Supportive care services are available for all patients and their families at Highlands Oncology. We understand there are many decisions to make during the care process and desire to walk alongside patients and their caregivers, offering assistance every step of the way.

What is Palliative Care? 

Palliative Care, or Supportive Care, is specialized medical care for people living with a serious illness. This type of care is focused on providing relief from the symptoms and stress of the illness. The goal is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family.

Palliative Care is provided by a specially-trained team of doctors, nurses and other specialists who work together with a patient’s other doctors to provide an extra layer of support. In fact, at Highlands, we use the term “Supportive Care” instead of palliative, as it best describes this branch of our medical team. Supportive Care is based on the needs of the patient, not aany stage in a serious illness, and it can be provided along with curative treatment.

What does the Supportive Care team do?

The goal is to improve your quality of life.  To do this, the Supportive Care team will:

• Relieve your symptoms and distress
• Help you better understand your disease and diagnosis
• Help clarify your treatment goals and options
• Understand and support your ability to cope with your illness
• Assist you with making medical decisions
• Coordinate with your other doctors

Highlands has a team of two Supportive Care physicians, Dr. Lombeida and Dr. Davis. Please visit their pages to learn more about their training and professional interests. Highlands also has two advanced practice nurses that are part of our multidisciplinary clinic. They accept referrals from 19 in-house providers, as well as outside referrals from the community.