Read the original article here

Florida-based Community Hospice & Palliative Care has opened its new pediatric center in a move to expand support for serious and terminally ill children and their families.

The Dorion Family Pediatric Center is part of the organization’s Community PēdsCare program, which will provide therapeutic day services to pediatric hospice and palliative patients starting in mid July.

The new center is designed to alleviate some of the most significant challenges among families, said Phillip Ward, CEO of Community Hospice & Palliative Care. Children with life-limiting conditions often require various levels of specialized support. However, families largely lack pediatric caregiving resources during work hours, resulting in increased financial strain, Ward said.

“The home is not conducive to some therapies,” Ward told Hospice News. “With this center we have areas specifically designed for pediatric therapies like music, art and adaptive play, as well as bereavement counseling. It doesn’t take away from what we’re doing in the home, but it compliments and augments support for parents and families. They’ve got additional levels of anxiety, stress, and a lot of our palliative is really to allow them to continue to enjoy life in midst of these medical complexities.”

Photo courtesy of Community Hospice & Palliative Care

The pediatric center was announced in January 2025 and was funded by philanthropic community support and donations from Dottie Dorion and the Dorion family. Community Hospice & Palliative Care’s main headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida, houses the program.

The new pediatric center will serve as a hub to build community support and also as a centralized location for the Community PēdsCare team, allowing for reduced travel time for patient care delivery.

“The return on investment is actually the community benefit and what this center does for the most vulnerable among our population,” he said.

Art, music and child life therapy services will be available at the center, as well as bereavement counseling and caregiver education and resources. The space allows for increased opportunities of family connection and peer-to-peer support, Ward said.

The center’s features include:

• family gathering area and event space
• child life specialist therapy center and creative arts room
• music therapy room
• recording studio
• sensory therapeutic play room
• family caregiver support room
• family office center and work area
• outdoor playground and garden
• kitchen and dining area

“It was important to us to make sure we didn’t come under a daycare or hospice license,” Ward said. “It’s a unique space that allows for pediatric specialized therapies for children — not a clinic, a physician office or a hospital. We’re not doing overnight respite, it’s a space during the day for parents to be productive even while their children are receiving care. Play is also a huge part of that quality of life experience at the center. It’s a very interactive space. We captured a home-like environment with a lot of nature indoors as well.”

Photo courtesy of Community Hospice & Palliative Care

Established in 1979, Community Hospice & Palliative Care is part of Alivia Care. The organization provides adult and pediatric hospice and palliative care in north and northeast Florida. The hospice’s other services include bereavement, advance care planning, veterans program and advanced cardiac care.

Through its Community PēdsCare, the organization provides community-based pediatric palliative and hospice patients up to 18 years old. The program offers physical, emotional, spiritual and practical support to seriously ill children with complex care needs, including care collaboration with other providers. These services are offered regardless of a family’s ability to pay.

Community Hospice & Palliative Care’s pediatric program reached an average daily census of 30 hospice patients and 224 palliative patients in 2025. The team has a dedicated pediatric chaplain, medical director, nurse practitioner, social workers, and music, art and child life specialists.

The home-based pediatric program began around 2001 in partnership with the Wolfson Children’s Hospital and Nemours Children’s Clinic. Community Hospice & Palliative Care also began a pediatric palliative care fellowship in collaboration with the University of Florida.

The community collaboration efforts have been an important part of the pediatric program’s sustainability and growth, including with the new center, according to Ward. These partnerships have helped strengthen the ability to recruit and retain pediatric professionals, he added.

“That level of integration with the children’s hospital and the university — those became major referral sources for children who have medical complexity,” he said. “We’re creating partnerships with primary care pediatric providers. We’ve been successful in ensuring we always have the staff that we need through a community reputation for being a community-based high quality provider. We attract a unique group of clinicians, that’s always been key for us to fill all of our positions.”

Photo courtesy of Community Hospice & Palliative Care