Fletcher Allen, a Vermont university hospital and medical center, serves all of
Vermont and the northern New York region. Located in Burlington, Fletcher Allen is a regional, academic healthcare center and teaching hospital in alliance with the University of Vermont.
End of Life & Palliative Care
The Fletcher Allen Palliative Care Service is an interdisciplinary, patient and family-centered program designed to deliver excellent pain and symptom management, advanced care planning, and end-of-life care for people with life threatening illness.
Important elements of the care we provide include attention to psychosocial, spiritual, and social domains of life-limiting disease. The Palliative Care Service utilizes the expertise of many disciplines within Fletcher Allen and the community at large to coordinate the care of our patients.
Our Mission
Palliative Care at Fletcher Allen is an approach to medical care whose focus is the management of physical, emotional, and spiritual suffering in the setting of a debilitating, life threatening, or terminal illness. Palliative care is complementary to other hospital treatment plans and is compatible with therapy designed to prolong life. The difference is that palliative care focuses on comfort, dignity, hope, and improving quality of life.
The Fletcher Allen Palliative Care Service strives to meet the above goals through a comprehensive, interdisciplinary consultation service. This service includes specially trained and board certified nurses working with a physician medical director, as well as the support of the Fletcher Allen social work, nursing, case management, and pastoral care services.
Contact Us
Any member of the health care team in addition to the patient or family member can request a Palliative Care consult at Fletcher Allen by calling the Physician Access Service (802) 847-2700 or (802) 847-5156.
All consult requests are reviewed with the patient’s attending physician. Consults are triaged based on the urgency of the situation or patient care needs. All consults are seen within 24 hours unless otherwise specified with the requesting person.
After hours and weekends a palliative care provider can be reached by calling the Fletcher Allen Physician Access Service (802) 847-2700.