115 Porter Drive
Middlebury, VT 05753-8423
About Our Location
Palliative care specialists focus on improving quality of life through services that manage and ease disease symptoms. Palliative care services complement or support ongoing standard medical treatments. This is a key distinction between palliative care and hospice care.
Hospice care takes place toward the end of life when a patient chooses to stop disease-directed therapies and instead focus on their quality of life.
Our palliative care specialists focus on improving quality of life through services that manage and ease disease symptoms. Palliative care services complement or support ongoing standard medical treatments.
You may benefit from palliative care if you have a serious, chronic illness, such as:
- Any type of cancer
- Heart, lung, liver or kidney disease
- Neurological disorders, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, stroke or Alzheimer’s disease
To request a consultation, please tell your doctor or nurse that you would like to meet with the Palliative Care team.
Learn more about palliative care at UVM Health
Palliative Support Services
The Palliative Support Services program provides support for patients, families, friends and caregivers during and after the dying process within both Porter Medical Center and Helen Porter Rehabilitation and Nursing Center.
Our volunteers complement the clinical services provided by medical professionals by offering practical and emotional support to patients and families. These services include companionship, household help, respite for family caregivers, around-the-clock vigil sitting during the last 24-48 hours of life, and grief support during and after the dying process.
We recognize that dying is a part of life and our volunteers can support the dying and their loved ones through:
- Bereavement support to those in need
- Music and other therapeutic practices
- The creation of spaces where the dying and their family can be together when home is not an option
- Community education
- Sitting vigil
For more information about support services please contact Louella Richer at lricher@portermedical.org or by calling 802-388-4744.
A Team of Experts You Can Count On
Insurance Accepted
Please Note: The below is a list of insurers contracted with Porter Medical Center, but it does not guarantee participation of your specific insurance plan or coverage of your planned service (i.e. medical, dental, behavioral health, etc.). Although some exclusions may be called out below, this list does not fully capture covered lines of business (i.e. Commercial, Medicare Advantage, Managed Medicaid) or products. Please contact your insurer to determine your unique benefit coverage.
- Aetna
- Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont (BCBSVT) / FEP / CBA
- Capital District Physicians' Health Plan (CDPHP)
- Capital District Physicians' Healthcare Network (CDPHN)
- CHAMPVA
- Cigna / Great West
- Coventry Health Care/First Health
- Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield (HMO only)
- Fidelis (New York Quality Healthcare Corporation) (excludes Medicare Advantage)
- Harvard Pilgrim Health Care (excludes United Behavioral Health, NH Health Benefit Exchange, Medicare Advantage, and Managed Medicaid)
- Medicaid (VT and NY)*
- Medicare*
- Multiplan / Private HealthCare Systems (PHCS) / Beech Street
- MVP
- The Vermont Health Plan (TVHP)
- TriCare for Life – Skilled Nursing Facility
- TriCare Humana Military
- TriCare Martin’s Point Health Care
- United HealthCare
- United HealthCare – The Empire Plan
- Vermont Blue Advantage
- Veteran's Administration Community Care Network (VA CCN) (United HealthCare)
- Workers' Comp (VT)
*Not every provider type is eligible to enroll with Government Payers. Please consult your provider’s office prior to visit for confirmation.