Division of Palliative Care

Serving communities throughout Greater Boston, the Newton-Wellesley Hospital Division of Palliative Care provides inpatient consultations for hospitalized patients facing serious illness, and also provides outpatient consultations for patients at Newton-Wellesley who are being treated for cancer. 

Scroll to 2:16 to 3:06 to hear about Palliative Care

Palliative Care

Palliative Care is specialized medical care for people with serious illness. The goal of palliative care is to help people live well while undergoing treatment for serious illness.  We help care for patients at any stage of the disease. 

The Palliative Care Team at Newton-Wellesley Hospital is multidisciplinary and includes the specialized skills of physicians, nurse practitioners, a social worker, a chaplain and a therapeutic musician, who work together with the patient’s other healthcare providers to help alleviate symptoms, enhance communication and facilitate transition of care.

Symptoms:

Patients with serious illness may have symptoms such as pain, nausea, shortness of breath, anxiety, constipation, depression, and/or fatigue. Our team has expert knowledge to assist with managing these and other symptoms. In addition to physical symptoms, we care for the patient as a whole person, and explore emotional, social and spiritual needs as we understand how these factors can significantly impact a patient and loved ones facing serious illness.

Enhanced Communication:

Our team will partner with patients, loved ones, and doctors/health care providers in the hospital to help with communication, so we can provide a care-plan that is informed by patient’s goals. We spend the time needed to understand the patient’s and loved ones' experience of illness, so they can feel empowered to make informed decisions about their care.

Improved Transitions of Care:

Our team works very closely with the Care Coordination team or Navigation team in the outpatient setting to help patients find the right services that are consistent with their goals, creating a seamless continuum of care across a range of clinical settings.

Inpatient Palliative Care Consults

When a palliative care consult is requested for a patient in the hospital, the specialist physician or nurse practitioner conducts a detailed review of the patient’s medical record, and speaks with other physicians and caregivers involved in the patient’s current care. Members of the interdisciplinary team will then meet with the patient and/or loved ones to create a patient-centered care plan and communicate our findings back to the referring physician and other involved clinical specialists. Inpatient palliative care consultations are available for patients living with many different types of serious illness such as dementia, congestive heart failure, end stage renal disease, COPD, advanced cancer, plus others.  A referral to the Inpatient Palliative Care team is made by the primary inpatient provider team of record.

Outpatient Palliative Care Consults

The Outpatient Palliative Care Team provides consultation on our patients who are seriously ill with cancer. We help manage symptoms related to disease and cancer treatment such as pain, nausea, shortness of breath, fatigue, anxiety, constipation and depression. In addition to aggressive symptom management, we work with patients, loved ones, and providers to address coping with illness and advance care planning. Our goal is to help patients with cancer and their loved ones live as fully as possible while undergoing cancer care. A referral to be seen by Outpatient Palliative Care is made by the patient’s oncologist. 

Educating the Newton-Wellesley Community

In addition to consultations, the members of the Division of Palliative Care Service are actively involved in providing education to the Newton-Wellesley community, including physicians, nurses, case managers, social workers, house officers and medical students through regularly scheduled conferences and rotations with our team. One area of focus is providing culturally competent serious illness communication skills training to front-line providers and nurses. Our members also sit on various hospital committees to ensure that hospital policies appropriately reflect the needs of our seriously ill patients.

Team Members

• Kosha Thakore, MD, Sullivan Family Chief of Palliative Care at Newton-Wellesley Hospital
• David Cheng, MD, Director of Palliative Care Education
• Ariadne Mueller, MD
• Julia Ragland, MD
• Kevin Stirling, MD
• Shareef Sam Tanyos, MD
• Angela Sousa, MSN, ANP-BC, ACHPN, Clinical Coordinator
• Julia Kenney, MSN, BSN, ANP-BC
• Anne Hunsicker, MSN, ANP-BC
• Lisa Catalano, LICSW, ACHP-SW, Lead Social Worker
• Anna Yaaloz, Palliative Care Chaplain
• Alethea Toh, Therapeutic Musician
• Jennifer Torrone, Practice Manager
• Angela Lepore, Clinic Practice Assistant Senior


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Contact Us

Phone: 617-243-6573
Fax: 617-243-6070

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