About The Palliative Care Institute

The Palliative Care Institute is a new collaborative between SUNY at Buffalo and The Center for Hospice & Palliative Care (CHPC). The Institute will be a powerful ally in the effort to improve healthcare for people diagnosed with long-term chronic diseases and debilitating illnesses. Together with SUNY at Buffalo School of Medicine, School of Nursing, School of Social Work, School of Pharmacy, School of Health Related Sciences and CHPC, the partners have formed The Palliative Care Institute.

"The Palliative Care Institute will interconnect community and university efforts across disciplines," said William E. Finn, CHPC president and CEO. "with the goal of establishing excellence in palliative care clinical practice, research and education. The need for physicians educated and trained in palliative and end-of-life care will clearly escalate as our population ages and patients continue to be diagnosed with long-term chronic diseases and debilitating illnesses."

The collaboration between the hospices and academic communities is a natural one given the interdisciplinary nature and scope of palliative medicine. If palliative medicine is to advance into a mature discipline, the relationship will be an essential one.

The Center for Hospice & Palliative Care, Hospice Buffalo's parent company, has built a strong educational program. In 2002, CHPC successfully established The Center for Excellence in End-of-Life Education, Research & Practice through a grant from the John R. Oishei Foundation. The newly created Palliative Care Institute creates an all encompassing platform that integrates community resources, health care providers and academic institutions in collaborative partnerships to advance the field of palliative care medicine.

The Palliative Care Institute's partners universally share the vision of improving the way in which palliative care is presented to our future practitioners and practiced by our community's healthcare providers.