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Continuum Hospice Care and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Uses the Power of Internet Television to Honor the VA Palliative Care Program

Posted on: Friday, 9 November 2007, 09:00 CST

The Grieving Center, a 2007 W3-Award winning television-based website by Continuum Hospice Care, in cooperation with the VA New York Harbor Healthcare System, has produced a series of videos about the staff who provide palliative and hospice care to veterans at the end of life. These moving videos include stories told through experiences of physicians, nurses and social workers, and by the veterans' loved ones.

The videos are representative of the stories of Americans who served in the Armed Forces in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, with more to be added to the website in 2008, including from the war in Iraq. Three of the videos will be posted on the Grieving Center as a tribute for Veterans Day and each of the videos is approximately ten minutes long, following the format of a wide assortment of brief films already on the site (www.grievingcenter.org). The Grieving Center was launched in June of this year, and last month the site received recognition and the prestigious W3 Silver Award from the International Academy of the Visual Arts.

Director of website, the Rev. William Purdy, said honoring the work of the VA Palliative Care team was a new direction for the Grieving Center. "The VA is once again setting the pace in health care in the US, and their treatment of patients facing life-threatening illness, and for their families, is outstanding. Like hospice, palliative care is generally under-utilized, and many more people could be taking advantage of it, especially our veterans.

One of the videos just posted on the website features Ms. Dolores Green, wife of Air Force veteran Cliff Green. She tells the story of her husband's last day of life that was also his birthday, and how the VA palliative care team brought a cake to his bedside.

Palliative and hospice care is described as providing the most appropriate medical and spiritual care possible when a cure is no longer realistic.

With the addition of these three new videos, the Grieving Center now contains 16 segments of original programming, equaling two hours of powerful video production. Coming in early 2008, the Grieving Center is scheduled to post a moving video of Capt. Maria Irizarry, who is an Army nurse and a nurse at the VA. She served a very dangerous tour in Iraq. This is the website's first segment in Spanish, and it will feature this remarkable intensive care unit nurse, now back on duty at the Brooklyn VA Hospital.

Continuum Health Partners is a nonprofit hospital system in New York City that comprises five historically distinguished hospitals: Beth Israel Medical Center, Roosevelt Hospital, St. Luke's Hospital, Long Island College Hospital and The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary. Together, we offer a full range of primary care and specialty treatments using the most advanced approaches available. Continuum Hospice Care provides the best in specialized care for people in the final stage of life. The ultimate goal of hospice is to ensure that our patients' values, beliefs, lifestyle, and culture are respected, and that each patient's choices are honored.

 Contact: Jeff Jacomowitz Continuum Hospice Care Continuum Health Partners 212-523-6069 Email Contact

SOURCE: Continuum Health Partners

Source: MARKET WIRE

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