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.
Request Our Services
Services offered by the Rural Palliative Care Network include telemedicine consultations for patients with life-threatening conditions, a 24/7 Palliative Medicine Hotline, and site visits to community hospitals and physician practices conducted by members of our Palliative Medicine team.
Telemedicine Consultation
Fletcher Allen provides telemedicine palliative medicine consultations for patients with life-threatening conditions being transferred to Fletcher Allen’s Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU). With this program, a Fletcher Allen palliative care physician conducts a telemedicine consult with the patient or family, the referring physician and the Fletcher Allen MICU attending physician before the patient is transferred.
These consults help improve communication and quality of care for patients being transferred who may not survive. The goal is to establish a relationship with the patient and family members prior to transfer. We also want to make sure the patient, family members and referring physician understand the goals of care – and what we can do for the patient – before he or she is transferred.
Criteria for Palliative Medicine Consultations
Patients with any of the following conditions may be candidates for a palliative medicine consultation:
- Prolonged multi-system organ failure
- Metastatic cancer with respiratory or cardiac failure
- Severe anoxic encephalopathy
- Very advanced age (above 90 years) associated with organ failure
- Advanced dementia
- Poor baseline quality of life
- End-stage heart, liver or lung disease (less than a six month prognosis prior to acute illness)
How to Request a Palliative Medicine Consultation
To request a consultation, call Provider Access Service (PAS) at (802) 847-2700 or (800) 639-2480.
Requests for consultation can be made by a community hospital physician or other health care provider prior to transferring the patient. Requests may also be initiated by the Fletcher Allen MICU attending or Critical Care Fellow after receiving a call about a transfer.
24/7 Palliative Medicine Hotline
Our Palliative Medicine team is available to assist you whenever you need us. To reach our 24/7 Palliative Medicine Hotline, call PAS at (802) 847-2700 or (800) 639-2480.
Site Visits
Members of our Palliative Medicine team conduct site visits at community hospitals and physician practices. We are available to visit your site either via telemedicine or in person. Presentations on current palliative care issues can be arranged. Contact Palliative Medicine at (802) 847-1023 or contact Fletcher Allen Palliative Medicine online for more information or to arrange a site visit.
Ask Dr. McVeigh
Community hospital physicians and providers can submit a question to Dr. McVeigh and we will post a response. Eventually, we plan to put a system in place to facilitate dialogue among providers throughout the network, where individuals can weigh in on the question and offer opinions and discussion. Submit your question here.
