Pamela M. Sutton, M.D., is board-certified Palliative Care physician who has served as a consultant to the World Health Organization (WHO), educating medical professionals in India, Pakistan, Tanzania, and Egypt on Palliative Care methods. Prior to joining the North Broward Hospital District as Director of Palliative Care Services, Dr. Sutton was a private Palliative Care practitioner serving patients in Broward County. Dr. Sutton received her medical degree from the University of California in San Fransisco where she received the highest honor for the art of medicine, the Gold-Headed Cane. Dr. Sutton is certified by the American Board of Hospice and Palliative Medicine and is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine and the University of Florida College of Medicine.

Palliative care is an approach to care and affirms life and treats death as a normal part of the life process. It differs from Hospice care in that it provides care to all patients with advanced illness regardless of life expectancy or whether patients wish to continue medical treatment and/or pursue resuscitation, if needed. Palliative care provides:

Palliative Care is about providing optimal comfort for patients with advanced, progressing illness, including those suffering from heart, lung, liver or kidney disease, dementia, progressive neurologic disorders, stroke, HIV, or cancer.

To meet the broad-ranging needs of palliative care patients, the Barbara Ziegler Palliatve Care Team includes many specialists, under the leadership of a palliative care physician. The team includes nurses specializing in palliative care, a palliative care education specialist, bereavement specialists, and social workers.

All are available to ensure that all needs of the patient, and his or her family and friends, are addressed.