Founded in 1997, the Department of Pain Medicine and Palliative Care at Beth
Israel Medical Center, under the leadership of Russell
K. Portenoy, MD, has become a national model for clinical, educational,
and research programs in this growing field.
Philanthropy is critical to advancing all of our work. Your support will make
a difference in ensuring that patients suffering from any type of pain will
receive the best and most compassionate care available and will help to further
the vital research and educational initiatives of the department.
Please click on any of the following links to learn about programs
you can support. To make a gift to the program of your choice, please click
on Donate Now on the left and make your choice from the drop down list. Thank
you!
| General Support | Family Caregiver Program |
| Healthcare Consumer/Professional Online Programs | Professional Training Programs |
| Research into Pain and Other Symptoms | Sussman Inpatient Hospice Unit |
General Support
Gifts may be designated for unrestricted purposes, which will provide the
most flexibility in planning and meeting the Department's mission.
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Family Caregiver Program
Family caregivers play a vital role in the treatment and wellness of loved
ones with advanced medical illness. The Department's philosophy is to treat
the patient and family as a unit of care. The Family Caregiver Program addresses
the needs of family caregivers through education, resources, and support groups.
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Healthcare Consumer/Professional
Online Programs
Our staff has created award-winning online programs accessible at www.StopPain.org.
These include resources on caring for patients at the end of life, multimedia
descriptions of common pain syndromes, webcasts for caregivers, listservs
(email discussion groups) for physicians and social workers to share up-to-date
information, interactive training programs on treating pain for physicians
and nurses, and more.
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Professional Training
Programs
This Department offers the only fellowship program in both pain management
and palliative care in the country. The fellows, who work at Beth Israel,
assess and treat pain syndromes, manage symptoms other than pain, and learn
clinical research methods in problems related to pain. The fellows also care
for end-of-life patients and learn skills for interfacing with caregivers.
We also have fellowship positions for nurses and social workers.
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Research into Pain and
Other Symptoms
Research includes a prospective longitudinal survey of quality-of-life outcomes
in patients with diverse types of progressive illness, and a survey of family
caregivers. Clinical trials are currently investigating two new systems for
delivering systemic opioids and several new drugs for chronic pain.
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Sussman Inpatient Hospice Unit
Beth Israel Medical Center is committed to providing compassionate, end-of-life
palliative care to patients living with advanced, life-threatening illness.
Our 16-bed Sussman Inpatient Hospice Unit features an interdisciplinary team
of professionals, including 24-hour on-call physicians and nurses, medical
social workers, therapists, spiritual advisors and volunteers – who
create an individualized plan for each patient and family. The Sussman inpatient
hospice unit features a hydrotherapy room, a family room with kitchenette,
library and media center, and a beautiful rooftop garden. Gifts also can be
made to purchase memorial leaves on our Tree of Life, a permanent, hand-crafted
cast bronze sculpture displayed on the Unit
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