NWCH vying to win palliative care grant

Northwest Community Hospital is a candidate for the LIVESTRONG Community Impact Project, and the Arlington Heights facility needs votes from the community to win.

At stake is a $10,000 financial award, technical support and training from the Lance Armstrong Foundation that will be used by the winning medical center to obtain the new Advanced Certification for Palliative Care from the Joint Commission.

The online voting campaign to choose the finalists ends at 5 p.m. March 23. Vote for Northwest Community Hospital at vote.livestrong.org/vote2012/regions/4/30-northwest-community-hospital.

Anyone with an email address can cast a vote. Northwest Community is the only Northwest suburban hospital in the running.

Palliative care improves quality of life by relieving the symptoms and stress of serious illness. Palliative care for hospital patients begins at any stage of a life-altering illness, working simultaneously with treatments that have cure or recovery as a goal.

“We are honored to be among the hundreds of hospitals nationwide who are candidates for the Community Impact Project,” said Karen Colby, who oversees palliative care at NCH. “We share LIVESTRONG’s passion for inspiring and empowering people affected by such serious illnesses.”

NCH partners with Midwest Palliative & Hospice CareCenter to provide specialized palliative medicine clinicians who are experienced at coordinating complex medical care focused on each patient’s comfort and healing. These experts work with the patient, family and doctors to deliver a personalized plan of coordinated care and support.

In 2011, the Joint Commission — the nation’s predominant standards-setting and accrediting body in health care — launched its Advanced Certification for Palliative Care program. The certification is for hospitals wanting recognition for superior palliative care services.

The 2012 Community Impact Project will offer nearly $1.4 million in implementation awards to 90 finalists across the country. The Lance Armstrong Foundation, now known publicly as LIVESTRONG, was established in 1997 by the cancer survivor and champion cyclist to serve people living with cancer and empower communities to take action against the world’s leading cause of death.