Largest Regional Investment to Date Seeks to Transform How People Experience End of Life across the Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 30, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the Stupski Foundation announced its spend down strategies to address some of the biggest challenges in the communities it calls home, including investing more than $14 million in seven local health systems to support and enhance comprehensive serious illness care programs across San Francisco and Alameda Counties and support patients at the end of life. 

"My experience caring for my husband, Larry, at the end of his life showed me the great need to change how seriously ill patients and their loved ones experience the end of life," said Joyce Stupski, founder and chair of the board of the Stupski Foundation. "We must do more to ensure patients receive care that reduces unnecessary suffering and respects their wishes."

The investments will significantly increase Bay Area health systems' ability to provide palliative care, a medical specialty that gives patients relief from the symptoms and stress of a serious illness and improves quality of life for the patient and their loved ones. Many planned programs also include training for doctors and staff to better equip them to talk with their patients about emotional end of life choices and identify the care that patients truly want.

The investments seek to:

• Expand specialty palliative care services by over one-third, reaching thousands of additional patients a year;
• Double the number of patients receiving home-based palliative care, reaching hundreds more people per year in the comfort of their homes;
• Train hundreds of primary care doctors and support staff on palliative care and how to have conversations about care preferences, document them, and ensure they are honored.

Participating health systems include Alameda Health System, Chinese Hospital, Kaiser Permanente, Sutter Health, Washington Hospital, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center.

"This support helps us ensure that everyone who needs palliative care gets it – not just here at UCSF but across the Bay Area," said Dr. Steve Pantilat, chief, Division of Palliative Medicine. "I'm thankful that Stupski recognizes the powerful benefits of palliative care and invests in a region-wide collaborative effort like this. The cross-learning between health systems will advance the field of palliative care."

Stupski's investment in serious illness care is one example of how the Foundation will prioritize local systems change to ensure that every member of our community enjoys a life marked by dignity, connectedness and caring.

The Stupski Foundation is investing all of our assets within the next 10 years to address some of the Bay Area's and Hawaiʻi's biggest challenges so that one day everyone can benefit from the wealth of opportunities and resources in the places we call home. Learn more about Stupski's work by visiting www.stupski.org.

SOURCE Stupski Foundation

Related Links

http://www.stupski.org