Since 2004, the Palliative Care consultation team at Mount Sinai Queens has helped improve the quality of life for patients diagnosed with advanced life-limiting conditions and those in need of end-of-life care. Our team, comprised of a physician, nurse practitioner, and social worker, have specialized training in palliative care and work closely with patients and their loved ones to compassionately alleviate suffering and to facilitate a plan of care. They provide medication, counseling, case management, and assistance with patient-focused transition planning from the hospital to the appropriate setting.

Serving Our Community

The need for palliative care services continues to grow as our population ages. Our team is sensitive to the various beliefs and traditions in our diverse community and honors the ways different cultures view life and death. We partner with spiritual leaders—including priests, chaplains, ministers, imams, and rabbis—from every religious background. Our team has even advocated with foreign embassies to allow family members to travel overseas to visit their loved ones.

Our palliative care team provides a range of services to support patients and their families, including:

Assistance with pain and symptom management: Our primary goal is to alleviate suffering and ensure comfort.

Enhancing communication through counseling and support: Our team addresses patient and family psychosocial needs.

Collaboration with patients’ medical team: Since Palliative Care is a multidisciplinary field, we are in constant communication with the patient’s primary care physician as well as any subspecialty clinicians treating the patient.

Identifying goals of advanced care: Together with the patient and family, we work to establish common goals of care unique to each individual based on available treatment options. 

Meet Our Team

Here, at Mount Sinai Queens, we have an exceptional team of Palliative Care specialists who are available to assure the optimum care and comfort for patients and their loved ones. We pride ourselves in our philosophy of "dignity, compassion, respect, and comfort for all to ensure quality of life."

Stella I. Rubina, DO
Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine

Lillian Espinoza, LCSW, ACHP-SW
Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine

John Fiddler, NP
Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine