New UF Jacksonville professorship supports palliative care program

A new UF College of Medicine–Jacksonville professorship assures pediatric palliative programs' evolution.

By Melanie Stawicki Azam
Marian Williams and her grandson Taubri Jackson pose with Jeff Goldhagen, MD.

Marian Williams and her grandson Taubri Jackson pose with Jeff Goldhagen, MD, who was appointed to the Community Hospice of Northeast Florida/Neviaser Family Professorship in Pediatric Palliative Care.

Marian Williams has no family in the Jacksonville area, so the pediatric palliative care she’s received for her 10-year-old grandson Taubri Jackson has been an enormous help.

“(The palliative care staff) were my family,” she said. “They really stepped in and supplied me with everything that I needed.”

A new UF College of Medicine–Jacksonville professorship, announced Oct. 18, assures pediatric palliative care programs, such as Community PedsCare, can continue to evolve and provide the services that have helped Williams care for Taubri’s special needs.

Palliative care involves pain and symptom management for patients with complex medical conditions.

Jeff Goldhagen, MD, chief of the college’s community pediatrics division, was appointed to the Community Hospice of Northeast Florida/Neviaser Family Professorship in Pediatric Palliative Care. Community Hospice, through a commitment from the Neviaser Family Foundation, donated $600,000 to create the professorship.

The professorship is expected to lead to the development of a new combined pediatric-adult palliative care fellowship in 2013 at the college.