Anne Kinderman
Physician
San Francisco General Hospital/UCSF
Community-Based Palliative Care Implementation in the San Francisco Department of Public Health
Public health systems have historically lagged behind similarly sized not-for-profit health systems in developing palliative care services. In the city and county of San Francisco, residents who depend on the San Francisco Health Network (organized under the SF Department of Public Health) currently have no access to specialty palliative care services outside of one acute care hospital and one skilled nursing facility. This project will explore and implement community-based palliative care across the SF Health Network. Activities include: a comprehensive needs assessment across the system, examining cancer patients' utilization patterns in the last months of life, developing a plan for sustaining an ongoing program, and becoming a model for other public health systems across the country.