Masslive Article
SPRINGFIELD – Work on a new palliative care unit at Mercy Medical Center is 75% complete, but additional funding is still needed, officials say.
The Andy Yee Palliative Care Unit will be more than a physical space. It is designed to provide individualized care with “dignity and tranquility” to patients who are critically ill, have life-altering injuries or are in the final stages of their lives. Palliative care helps patients whose illnesses are serious and possibly terminal.
The initial hope was to open the unit by 2023. The hospital still needs $300,000 to finish construction of rooms. As soon as the money is received, it will take about three months for the work to be completed.
The Mercy staff provides as much palliative care as it can now, but the unit will provide a more focused effort.
“This is bringing home to medicine,” said Dr. Laurie Loiaconc, chief of critical care, who will partner with Dr. Philip Glynn, medical director of the Sister Caritas Cancer Center at Mercy, to lead the center.
The center was inspired by Yee, a well-known restauranteur and businessman who died of cancer in 2021, just before his 60th birthday. After his death, his wife Sarah Yee approached Glynn about opening a palliative care unit.
“God bless the Yee family. He was special and because of who he was got special treatment,” Glynn said. “Let’s make sure more people get special treatment.”
The unit’s team approach will ensure patients who go home can do so with supports they need so they are not soon back in the hospital, said Dr. Robert Roose, president of Mercy Medical Center.
The program will be the only one of its kind in Western Massachusetts and is expected to serve about 300 people a year, he said.
Dr. Robert Roose, president of Mercy Medical Center, says a new palliative care center will be "a place where patients who are struggling with symptoms or challenges at the end of their life are treated in such a way that preserves their dignity. This is going to be a place where patients who are struggling with symptoms or challenges at the end of their life are treated in such a way that preserves their dignity.”
Already in use
While patient rooms on the fifth-floor unit are not yet finished, Glynn said he is already using a consultant area, which includes a private room as well as a comfortable, family-friendly area where people can spend time in discussions that should not be rushed.
Also finished is an area with a private reflection room, as well as a larger space which people can use to decompress. There will be Wi-Fi so family members can catch up on work, do research or get in touch with relatives.
The whole area is designed to seem less sterile than a typical hospital environment, Roose said.
Some of the medical devices in the eight private rooms will be tucked away. Technology will allow patients to visit with relatives and friends who live a distance away, he said.
The $1.2 million project has received $900,000 in donations, including $250,000 in American Rescue Plan Act money from the city. People or organizations can sponsor a patient room for $100,000, said Geoffrey B. Hoyte, chief development officer with Mercy.
Two of the rooms have already been named, one by Westfield Bank and the second by a organization of restauranteurs that was once called the 91 Club, but was renamed in honor of Yee.
People can also donate to a separate endowment fund that will help pay for specialized staff training, equipment and to fill any gaps a regular budget cannot handle. Those looking to donate or get more information can email Hoyt at Geoffrey.Hoyt@TrinityHealthOfNE.org.
Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, who had the final say on allocating the $250,000 in ARPA money, said no donation is too small to help build the endowment fund.
“This type of focused care will enhance quality of life for patients and their families,” Sarno said, adding that Mercy doctors cared for both of his parents until their deaths.