San Diego Hospice and The Institute for Palliative Medicine Program Wins National American Psychiatric Association Gold Achievement Award

San Diego Hospice and The Institute for Palliative Medicine Program Wins
National American Psychiatric Association Gold Achievement Award

Palliative Care Psychiatry Program only one of its kind in the United States

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Palliative Care Psychiatry
Program at San Diego Hospice and The Institute for Palliative Medicine has
been named the winner of the 2009 Gold Achievement Award by the American
Psychiatric Association.

San Diego psychiatrist Scott Irwin, MD, PhD is Director of the Palliative Care
Psychiatry Program at The Institute for Palliative Medicine and oversees the
only full time psychiatry service at any hospice in the nation, working
exclusively with San Diego Hospice. This program combines clinical innovation,
applied research, and education to improve mental health and palliative care
for the seriously ill population.

"This is an extraordinary achievement for our program," said Charles von
Gunten, MD, PhD, Provost of The Institute for Palliative Medicine. "Thanks to
Dr. Irwin and his entire staff of dedicated professionals, this award will
provide us with a national platform to advocate for better psychiatric care
for all patients with advanced illness and for the role that palliative care
should play in all of healthcare."

The program addresses the under-recognition and under-treatment of psychiatric
symptoms when the end of life is near. "The Palliative Care Psychiatry Program
at San Diego Hospice and the Institute for Palliative Medicine is setting a
new standard of whole-person care for dying patients and their family
members," said Dr. Irwin. "Rapid screening, identification, and treatment of
psychiatric symptoms - often within hours of initiating hospice care - can
make a drastic difference in the lives of seriously ill patients and their
loved ones."

Dr. Irwin added, "Through this award, I hope to gain visibility for our
program so that more patients and families can benefit from the work we do at
The Institute."

The formal award ceremony took place on October 8 at the Opening Session of
the Institute on Psychiatric Services in New York, where Dr. Irwin was
presented with a plaque and the $10,000 Gold Achievement Award provided by
Pfizer Inc.

About The Institute for Palliative Medicine at San Diego Hospice
The Institute for Palliative Medicine at San Diego Hospice (www.sdhospice.org)
is internationally recognized for its excellence in palliative care education
and research. Dedicated to the relief of suffering through the transformation
of healthcare, it focuses on discovering, demonstrating, and disseminating
palliative care strategies locally, nationally and globally. Physicians and
healthcare professionals from around the world come to The Institute to study.
Home to one of the largest palliative medicine physician fellowship programs
in the country, The Institute also provides education to more than 1700
healthcare students and professionals each year and is home to PAL-MED CONNECT
(1-877-PAL-MED4), a 24/7 palliative care hotline for physicians, nurse
practitioners and clinical pharmacists. The Institute helped pioneer the
palliative medicine subspecialty approved by the American Board of Medical
Specialties in 2006.

CONTACT: Melissa DelaCalzada, The Institute for Palliative Medicine at San
Diego Hospice, +1-619-278-6139

SOURCE San Diego Hospice and The Institute for Palliative Medicine

Melissa DelaCalzada, The Institute for Palliative Medicine at San Diego
Hospice, +1-619-278-6139