Hospice of Southern Illinois is announcing our 4th year with a PGY-2 (post-graduate, year 2) Pain and Palliative Care Pharmacy Residency Program. In collaboration with the SIUE School of Pharmacy, we remain the only accredited PGY-2 Pain and Palliative Care Pharmacy Residency Program fully funded by a hospice, in the United States. With that said, we are pleased to introduce and welcome the full-time, on-staff, PGY-2 Pharmacy Resident, Matthew Clark, PharmD. Our patients, families, and organization directly benefits from this very special program, which is 1 of 18 in the country and the only accredited one, fully funded by a hospice.
Dr. Clark is an integral member of our interdisciplinary team focusing on each individual’s goals of care in delivering the highest quality end-of-life care to the patients and families we serve. Matthew leads with our mission and core values of excellence, integrity, respect, diversity and dignity. The PGY-2 Program sets Hospice of Southern Illinois’ care apart from other hospice programs. Matthew shares our commitment to this program and standard of end-of-life care, “I am truly blessed to have the opportunity to learn from such a caring healthcare team at Hospice of Southern Illinois. Completing the residency at Hospice of Southern Illinois will allow me to grow as a competent palliative care pharmacist.”
Working With Community Partners to Help Patients
“We have collaborated with Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville’s School of Pharmacy to implement an immersive and structured, post-graduate training program to benefit Hospice of Southern Illinois and their patients; additionally, the experience, knowledge, and education our pharmacist will receive has been customized to provide a genuine learning experience and specific end-of-life care training to equip the resident for their future research, programs and professional development,” explains Dr. Ellen Middendorf, Medical Director for Hospice of Southern Illinois. The specialized support this program offers to Hospice of Southern Illinois’ patients includes streamlined symptom management to reduce side effects and medication interactions; ensuring safe and effective medication use; and medication cost management. As regulatory and compliance mandates change, our pharmacist also provides another element of expertise to assist and ensure the highest standard of care to those we serve. Additionally, we proudly offer one-on-one education to staff, patients and families, and healthcare professionals, which is invaluable.
(Photographed L to R: Dr. Ellen Middendorf, Hospice of Southern Illinois’ Medical Director, Matthew Clark, PharmD., Hospice of Southern Illinois’ Pharmacy Resident, Chris Herndon, PharmD., associate professor at the SIUE School of Pharmacy, and Amy Richter, Hospice of Southern Illinois’ President & CEO)
Chris Herndon, PharmD., a professor at the SIUE School of Pharmacy, and PGY-2 Residency Program Director added, “this novel training program will prepare pharmacists to integrate seamlessly into the hospice interdisciplinary team and directly impact the care of those at the end of life. As medication regimens become more complex, it makes perfect sense to add the pharmacist to the hospice clinical team.
Our Mission and Programs Align
The mission of Hospice of Southern Illinois is to enhance the quality of life for individuals and their loved ones touched by a terminal illness. Not all hospice providers are the same. While most have a similar philosophy, each hospice is a different company offering different services. Our reputation is a direct result of our desire to do more than what is required or expected. This can be seen in the passion and commitment of our employees and volunteers to provide excellent hospice care through all the services we provide, including our PGY2 Program. Learn more about our PGY2 program here.