Palliative Care Services

What services does the OHSU Palliative Medicine and Comfort Care Team provide?

We can provide enhanced communication between you, your family and your medical team, help in making difficult medical decisions at any stage of illness, emotional and spiritual support and expert treatment of symptoms, such as:

  • Pain
  • Shortness of breath
  • Constipation
  • Nausea
  • Trouble sleeping
  • Loss of appetite

We welcome questions from patients and their family members. Ask your doctor for a referral for palliative care services. Our team is available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Who benefits from palliative care?

Patients and families who
  • Need assistance making complex medical decisions
  • Need help understanding their condition or prognosis
  • Will have complex needs when they leave the hospital
  • Have a long, complex hospital stay
  • Have a recent diagnosis of a serious illness
  • Have a complex illness with many hospital stays
  • Experience uncontrolled discomfort or other symptoms

How does palliative care differ from hospice care?

The Palliative Medicine and Comfort Care Team works in the hospital and can provide guidance during any phase of illness. Hospice is a program of services that allows a dying person to remain at home or in a home-like setting for the last weeks and months of life. The Palliative Care Team can help with the transition to hospice care, if needed.

What is comfort care?

Comfort care strives to ensure comfort for patients and families in the last days to hours of life.

Palliative Medicine and Comfort Care Team

Fromme,Erik_07Erik Fromme, M.D., M.C.R., F.A.A.H.P.M.
Medical Director
Associate Professor of Medicine, Radiation Medicine, and Nursing

Sue BestSue Best, M.S.W., L.C.S.W.
Palliative Care Social Worker

Tiffany Culbertson - OHSU Palliative Care Tiffany Culbertson, R.N., M.S.N., A.N.P.-B.C.
Palliative Care Clinical Nurse Specialist
MyersJeff_13aJeff Myers, P.A.-C.
Palliative Care Physician Assistant
Instructor, School of Medicine
Mary Denise Smith, R.N., C.N.S.Mary Denise Smith, R.N., C.N.S., A.C.H.P.C.N.
Palliative Care Clinical Nurse Specialist
Instructor, School of Nursing and Medicine
Eric WalshEric Walsh, M.D.
Palliative Care Physician
Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Hematology and Medical Oncology
Terri SchmidtTerri Schmidt, M.D., M.S.
Palliative Care Physician
Professor of Emergency Medicine
Susan YoderSusan Yoder, R.N., B.S.N.
Program Administrator
Director, Department of Patient Relations