What We Do

What We Do

Palliative Care Consultants of Santa Barbara (PCCSB)is a physician owned provider group that provides hospital, hospice, and outpatient based palliative care physician services to residents of the Santa Barbara County South Coast. Formed as a physician partnership in 2003, PCCSB has successfully led the creation of three successful, sustained community collaborations to meet the needs of the chronically ill and dying residents of the Santa Barbara Community. Through its partnerships with Cottage Health System, Visiting Nurse and Hospice Care, Hospice of Santa Barbara, the St. Francis Foundation, and the Cancer Center of Santa Barbara PCCSB serves approximately 3000 of the sickest patients in the community. Additionally, the PCCSB physician owners also maintain three private practices in primary care Internal Medicine where they serve an additional 3000 community members, most of whom are seniors.

PCCSB is perhaps uniquely situated to both understand the challenges of the frail elderly and implement solutions for the following reasons:

  • Clinical expertise and experience straddling the disciplines of Palliative Care, Hospice, and Primary Care, and Geriatrics.
  • PCCSB is the opposite of a silo model of healthcare delivery – it serves patients in hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and homes giving a unique perspective on continuity challenges of healthcare delivery. PCCSB clinicians have a strong background and ongoing practice in Primary Care.
  • Highly regarded and influential though out the local health care community. Our clinicians are on a first name basis with everyone from the hospital CEO to the nurse’s aides at home.
  • Leadership positions in multiple key organizations, boards, and committees
  • A track record of successful innovative collaborative planning and execution bringing disparate community organizations together to improve care and access for patients.
  • An organizational model that is nimble and carefully managed
  • Business experience managing successful and sustainable medical practices and healthcare collaborations

Our program directors are known and respected practitioners and medical leaders who serve or have recently served as:

  • Medical Director Visiting Nurse and Hospice
  • Board of Directors, Visiting Nurse and Hospice
  • Board of Directors Hospice of Santa Barbara
  • Co-Founder, Doctors without Walls
  • President, Santa Barbara County Medical Society
  • Board of Directors, St. Francis Foundation
  • Chairman of Internal Medicine Department, Cottage Hospital
  • Medical Directorship, Palliative Care Consultation Service, Cottage Health System
  • Chairman, Information Technology Committee, Cottage Health System
  • Member, Medical Executive Committee, Cottage Hospital
  • Member, Medical Advisory Panel, Cottage Health System

While our business operations are successful, we are most proud of our repeated ability to lead the building of collaborative interdisciplinary care systems that have improved satisfaction, quality of care, access to care, and been lauded by our colleagues:

  • Palliative Care Consultation Service at Cottage Health System
    • An ongoing collaboration of four organizations, Cottage Health System, Visiting Nurse and Hospice Care of Santa Barbara, Hospice of Santa Barbara, St Francis Foundation
    • More than 10 years of operation
    • Over 1,000 consults per year
    • Resourced with 24/7/365 interdisciplinary team coverage
    • Award winning
  • Community Palliative Care
    • An ongoing collaboration of three organizations: Cancer Center of Santa Barbara, Visiting Nurse and Hospice of Santa Barbara, Hospice of Santa Barbara
    • Runs clinic in outpatient oncology as well as home visits
  • Alliance for Living and Dying Well
    • Alliance of local stakeholders with interest in end of life or palliative care or elder care. Includes multiple non profits, hospital system, as well as local representatives from skilled and assisted living facility, clergy
    • Current work involves continuity task force, electronic registry of advance directives, support of community POLST committee, Advance directive programs at parishes, hospitals, and workplaces, cultural events, research.
  • Underserved Medicine
    • Co-founder of Doctors Without Walls
    • Established a volunteer program for local physicians to care for homeless patients in the community
    • Collaboration with Parish Nursing Program and other service organizations
  • Hospice
    • Successful leadership allowing traditional Medicare hospice to grow from census of 30 to 140
    • Successful leadership allowing growth of inpatient hospice facility to expand from 6 to 18 beds
    • Successful leadership to allow volunteer hospice to grow

We understand the needs of the community we serve because we are on the front lines of care – both in direct patient care, and at the local healthcare planning level with our involvement in:

  • Medical Director Visiting Nurse and Hospice
  • Board of Directors, Visiting Nurse and Hospice
  • Board of Directors Hospice of Santa Barbara
  • Founding member, Doctors without Walls
  • Board of Directors, St. Francis Foundation
  • Chairman of Internal Medicine Department, Cottage Hospital
  • Medical Director, Palliative Care Consultation Service, Cottage Health System
  • Chairman, Information Technology Committee, Cottage Health System
  • Member, Medical Executive Committee, Cottage Hospital
  • Professional Advisory Committee, Visiting Nurse and Hospice Care