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 National Hospice and Palliative Care Rep Visits Agency Home Nursing Agency's Hospice Program and Palliative Care Consult Service have captured the attention of officials at the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NPCO), which is the oldest and largest nonprofit membership organization representing hospice and palliative care programs and professionals in the United States. NHPCO is headquartered in Alexandria, VA. Due to the high patient satisfaction ratings generated over the past two years from our Palliative Care Consult Service at Altoona Regional, we are one of 12 agencies from around the nation selected by NHPCO to contribute to a comprehensive training module being developed for other organizations/hospitals to use as a reference when starting a palliative care service. NHPCO will be distributing the module nationally. Under the direction of the Agency's Physician Assistant, Danette George, the purpose of our Palliative Care Consult Service is to provide and direct the care of individuals with chronic illness while offering a bridge between treatments aimed at a cure and the pain-free management of a terminal illness. Emil Zuberbueler, a quality and access specialist from NHPCO, interviewed Agency staff on how and why we partnered with Altoona Regional to offer a Palliative Care Consult Service, what have been key factors to its success, and how the service has impacted the Agency's Hospice Program. Emil also interviewed two Altoona Regional Hospital employees, Vicky Wertz and Jane Getsy, who provided testimony on our behalf as to the benefit of these services. "To her credit, Danette George has done great justice in helping our staff and physicians enhance educational efforts with our patients regarding their chronic illness. I admire her timely manner and dedication to our patients as they face some tough decisions about a course of treatment or are in need of additional support when facilitating end-of-life discussions with their loved ones. She has built an excellent rapport with all of us," said Jane Getsy. 
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