The Medical Center of Central Georgia has been awarded a LIVESTRONG Community Impact Project Grant, designed to bring new resources for palliative care to the region.

The Macon State College's School of Nursing and Health Sciences joined forces with the Middle Georgia Taskforce for Quality Palliative Care and other academic, health care, community, business, and government partners to solicit votes that led to the award. According to Christopher C. Tsavatewa, Macon State assistant professor of health service administration and taskforce chair, 453,874votes were cast nationwide helping the LIVESTRONG Foundation identify where resources were needed most.

Of the total votes cast, over 265,000 were specifically for the Palliative Care Initiative, a LIVESTRONG record for programs selected for replication. The Medical Center of Central Georgia received 5,767 votes from across Middle Georgia and around the world, placing MCCG first within region seven. Some of the votes came from as far away as Alaska, Denmark and Guatemala.

Through the 2012 Community Impact Project, 20 hospitals or cancer centers nationwide will receive financial awards of $10,000, along with tools, training and technical assistance to either start or sustain successful palliative care programs and pursue Advanced Program Certification through The Joint Commission. The Medical Center of Central Georgia's renowned Center for Palliative Care, started in 2004, has long been dedicated to increasing the availability and quality of palliative care services for people facing serious,complex illness, and embraces the certification challenge designed to recognize hospital inpatient palliative care teams that demonstrate exceptional patient and family-centered care.

“This could never have been achieved without the assistance of our dedicated and energized community partners and volunteers who assembled community events,coordinated voting drives, and developed innovative social media campaigns,”Tsavatewa said. “The biggest thank you goes out to the thousands of voters from around the Middle Georgia region and the world whose vote for the Medical Center’s Center for Palliative Care represents buy-in, awareness, and support for that extra layer of care provided those experiencing serious illness.”

For more information about the LIVESTRONG Community Impact Project Grant and the Middle Georgia Taskforce for Quality Palliative Care, contact Tsavatewa at chris.tsavatewa@maconstate.edu or 478-471-2088.

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