Rotations and Curriculum

Facilities

The fellowship is sponsored by and based out of Mercy Health – St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital but has rotations at our other community hospitals, as well as our hospice and a collaborating pediatric hospital. Our hospitals and teaching programs also have links with several local medical schools.

Mercy Health – St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital

St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital features a medical staff of 480 representing 40 specialties and a caring hospital staff of 800-plus. It is a licensed, 224-bed regional medical center with 77 bassinets, 35 level 3 obstetric beds and 30 emergency medicine beds. St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital has had Magnet recognition since 2011.

Mercy Health – St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital

St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital is a 350-bed Level 1 Trauma Center and Primary Stroke Center, equipped to handle the most serious emergencies. St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital includes an acute rehabilitation hospital, the Joanie Abdu Comprehensive Breast Care Center and has an outpatient palliative medicine clinic associated with the oncology center.

Mercy Health – St. Joseph Warren Hospital

St. Joseph Warren Hospital is the first verified Level III trauma center in Trumbull County and part of the only regional trauma network which includes a Level I Trauma Center at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital. Within the hospital, we have an innovative healing garden that provides a unique destination for patients, visitors and employees to read, rest, meditate and commune with nature. St. Joseph Warren Hospital also has an outpatient palliative medicine clinic.

Mercy Health – Hospice of the Valley Hospice House

Hospice of the Valley is a nonprofit hospice first established in 1989 that serves the tri-county area around Youngstown and Warren. Hospice of the Valley’s focus is on providing high-quality interdisciplinary hospice care in the place where a patient calls home. In 2006, Hospice of the Valley opened a freestanding hospice facility, Hospice House. This 16-bed facility provides rooms for general inpatient level of care to provide intensive symptom management and for respite stays for community patients. The facility is staffed 24/7 by nursing and has 24/7 provider coverage with daily provider visits.

Akron Children’s Hospital

Akron Children’s Hospital is a collaborating partner for the pediatric palliative care experience. Founded in Akron, Ohio, it is the largest pediatric health care provider in northeast Ohio. The main hospital is located in Akron and has 289 beds. The system also has a 32-bed satellite hospital in Boardman and the pediatric palliative care department works collaboratively with Hospice of the Valley for pediatric patients. Fellows have a one-month rotation in the main Akron hospital that provides a wealth of pediatric palliative care experiences from a supportive clinical teaching team through their Pediatric Palliative Care Fellowship.

Aventura at Assumption Village Skilled Nursing Facility

Assumption Village is a 150-bed skilled nursing facility located on the same campus as Hospice House. The facility provides both skilled post-acute care and long-term custodial care with a primarily elderly patient population. Fellows have a one-month geriatric medicine/long-term care medicine rotation to experience the care of older adults with multiple comorbidities, frailty and functional deficits with a focus on an integrative model of primary palliative care.

Rotation Schedule

*Pediatric palliative care is located at Akron Children’s Hospital in Akron, OH.

**Geriatric medicine and long-term care is located at Aventura at Assumption Village Skilled Nursing Facility.

Fellows take home call with attending backup once per month on the hospice service which includes rounding at Hospice House with the attending on the weekend.

Didactics

• Two hours every Wednesday morning.
• Speakers include faculty members, specialists, guest lecturers and residents.
• Initial “boot camp” to cover basic palliative topics to help on initial rotations.
• Incorporates Journal Club, case presentations and patient safety/root cause analysis.
• Self-care curriculum with faculty and chaplain.
• Collaborative didactics with Family Medicine program for shared topics.