Online voting began this morning to award LIVESTRONG grants of up to $15,000 to nonprofit organizations including Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center Torrance that provide exceptional services to cancer patients.

The hospital’s palliative care program is among the candidates for the LIVESTRONG Foundation Community Impact Project, which is offering a total of $1.2 million in funding to programs that provide proven cancer support nationwide.

Finalists will be determined through an online voting campaign that began at 8 a.m. today at Vote.LIVESTRONG.org and runs until 3 p.m. Thursday, March 28.

“We are urging the community to support us in this vote to expand our program of compassionate care for our very seriously ill patients,” said Liz Dunne, chief executive Providence Little Company of Mary Torrance,

The top vote getters will receive financial awards of support to replicate and implement three programs that have demonstrated success in improving the lives of people affected by cancer.

Providence Little Company of Mary Torrance has applied for a grant to implement the Advanced Certification for Palliative Care program.  The Joint Commission’s Advanced Certification for Palliative Care is designed to set standards and acknowledge hospitals providing state-of-the-art palliative care services that relieve symptoms and stress of serious illness and improve quality of life for patients.  The Center to Advance Palliative Care will provide tools and training to 20 hospitals and cancer centers across the country to assist in their efforts to qualify for the Certification.

If voters online choose Providence Little Company of Mary Torrance for the award., the funding will be used to enhance work by its Palliative Care consultation team to transform the culture of care to focus more on healing not just curing.  The team serves more than 600 patients and families each year.

Through the program, the hospital provides pain and symptom management for patients; facilitates important conversations about goals of care, especially when the outlook is bleak; helps patients and their families through moral and ethical dilemmas, compassionate withdrawal of life support, transitions to hospice services and psychosocial and spiritual support.  The program has helped lead the palliative care initiative and mentor other programs within Providence Health & Services, a not-for-profit organization with 31 comprehensive medical centers in five Western states.

A hallmark of the hospital’s palliative care services is its No One Dies Alone (NODA) program – 60 volunteers who visit with dying patients, providing compassion and comfort in their final days.

The palliative care program expanded this year to include out-patient palliative care and plans are underway for an in-home program.

Organizations chosen to implement one of LIVESTRONG’s model programs will receive up to $15,000 to support the implementation.  They also will receive a toolkit consisting of facilitator manuals, participant materials and evaluation forms; training and support from the model program’s staff; access to additional tools and resources; and a full report on the historical replication of this program upon completion.

About Providence Health & Services

Providence Health & Services, Southern California, is a Catholic not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing quality and compassionate health care and reaching out to the poor and the vulnerable in the communities it serves. Providence Southern California operates five award-winning acute-care medical centers in the Los Angeles area, providing a full continuum of healthcare services: Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, Providence Tarzana Medical Center, Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Centers in Torrance and San Pedro. The region also has numerous ancillary facilities including Hospice care, long-term care, numerous outpatient clinics, Providence Medical Institute, Providence High School and an affiliation with Facey Medical Group. For more information, visit California.providence.org.

About the LIVESTRONG Foundation

The LIVESTRONG Foundation provides free cancer support services to help people cope with the financial, emotional and practical challenges that accompany the disease. Created in 1997 by cancer survivor and philanthropist Lance Armstrong, the Foundation is known for its powerful brand – LIVESTRONG – and for its advocacy on behalf of survivors and their families. With its iconic yellow LIVESTRONG wristband, the Foundation has become a symbol of hope and inspiration around the world. Since its inception, the Foundation has served 2.5 million people affected by the disease and raised more than $500 million to support cancer survivors. One of America’s top cancer non-profit organizations, the Foundation enjoys a four-star rating from Charity Navigator and has been recognized by the National Health Council and the Better Business Bureau for its excellent governance, high standards and transparency. For more information, visit LIVESTRONG.org.