Pantilat Receives Endowed Chair

The Hospitalist. 2006 August;2006(08):

August 1, 2006|The Hospitalist

Dr. Pantilat

Increasingly, hospitals are making palliative care a priority; and more hospitalists are getting involved in providing these services and taking the lead on establishing and facilitating palliative care programs. Among the growing evidence that hospitalists are viewed as key players in the proliferation of hospital palliative care programs is the appointment of Steven Pantilat, MD, associate professor of clinical medicine, to the newly established Alan M. Kates and John M. Burnard Endowed Chair in Palliative Care at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF).

The chair is the first palliative care chair in the University of California system and only the fifth nationwide. The endowment provides funding for salary support and efforts to build clinical, educational, research, and training components of the UCSF palliative care program. “This chair is important because hospitalists are often the main source of hospital palliative care services,” explains Dr. Pantilat. “Because I am a hospitalist, I understand the needs of these practitioners.”

The Alan M. Kates and John M. Burnard Endowed Chair in Palliative Care is the first palliative care chair in the University of California system and only the fifth nationwide.

Numerous Plans, Expectations

Dr. Pantilat has several expectations for what the chair will enable him to accomplish. “We hope to improve palliative care for patients, contribute to the field in terms of research and educational initiatives, and help UC advance in these areas,” he says. “Our main goal is to develop a world-class palliative care program that will advance the field in terms of education, research, and patient care and to provide the highest quality care to patients with life-threatening illness. This will provide seed money to develop educational and research programs that require some early investment when they are just ideas.”

There is a tremendous need for more and better palliative care in the hospital setting. “Patients have many needs, including management of symptoms such as shortness of breath, nausea, and fatigue,” he says. “There isn’t nearly enough research or information on these problems as compared to pain. We need more studies on the best way to treat symptoms.”

Additionally, Dr. Pantilat hopes to add to the body of literature on patient-physician communication, suggesting that hospitalists and other physicians need information about how to communicate sensitive issues such as bad news and how best to support patients and families throughout illnesses and fill their palliative care needs.

“We hope to develop and encourage more education and training on these topics,” he says. Stressing that there already are good educational programs about palliative care topics, Dr. Pantilat notes the need for more instruction specific to the unique needs of hospitalized patients and the hospitalists who care for them.

Endowed Chair Donor Speaks Out

Alan M. Kates, chair of the Board of Pacific Concessions Inc. in San Francisco, is the generous donor who endowed the palliative care chair. “The chair is named after me and my friend John Burnard. It was inspired partly by John’s many years of volunteer work at hospitals—mostly with AIDS patients,” he explains.

Through his friend’s experiences, Kates says he “realized that AIDS patients had medical issues but also other needs that had to be satisfied. John saw some of the gaps in comfort care. His experiences cemented in his mind—and later mine—the importance of palliative care.” He adds, “When I talked to the people at UCSF about how I could help them, it turns out that this was an important area for them as well.

“[Dr. Pantilat] combines the best of medical sciences with an understanding of patients’ needs. And he has the ability to put the two together. He is able to combine the scientific aspects of medical care with a holistic approach to care. He has a clear and vivid understanding of what good palliative care is and why it is so important.”

Among Kates’ hopes for the chair: “To educate other institutions and doctors to make them aware of palliative care and able to incorporate it into their programs. Getting the word out and training people is important.”

Kates is pleased with the progress that the chair represents. “If you go back 10 years, it was rare for hospitals to pay attention to palliative care. In fact, historically hospitals have not been good about dealing with dying. Progress has been made. But thanks to this chair, more significant progress will happen. It is exciting and rewarding to contribute to these efforts.”—JK