Pediatric Advanced Care Team (PACT) / Palliative Care

Vertical Tabs

What our team can offer

The Pediatric Advanced Care Team (PACT) offers an extra layer of support and guidance to help Montreal Children’s Hospital patients and their families when faced with a serious illness. Our goal is to find solutions that are specific to each child’s particular needs. We focus on how to increase moments of joy, laughter and quality of life. We work with your child’s existing care team to decrease unnecessary hospital visits and to streamline health care access in times of crisis.  We also work with healthcare services outside the hospital such as in the local community to help coordinate and provide continuity of care between hospital and clinic visits.

We can help with:

 

Some children do better despite having a serious illness and they may only need our services for a short period of time until they improve. Other children may need to be followed for months or years. Our team works with you and your child along your journey, as needed.

What kinds of patients can benefit from PACT services?

Montreal Children’s Hospital patients diagnosed with serious illnesses such as certain forms of cancer, neurological degenerative diseases, severe cerebral palsy, and many other rare types of genetic diseases can benefit from our services. Other children who have had complications from prematurity, or who have spent extended periods of time in the neonatal (NICU) or pediatric intensive care units (PICU) can also benefit.

We also see parents who have found out they are carrying a baby with a potentially life-threatening disease. We can help with decision-making and create customized care plans for when the baby is born.

Working with us

We work with your child’s existing Montreal Children’s Hospital care team to add another layer of support. We often can see you and your child at the same time or on the same day as your other hospital appointments to try to decrease the time you spend traveling to and from the hospital.

The PACT Team

We are doctors and nurses specialized in the care of children with serious advanced illness, sometimes called pediatric palliative care.

  • Dr. Stephen Liben, Director
  • Dr. Mary Decell, Pediatrician
  • Dr. Naomi Goloff
  • Viviane Fontes de Souza, Nurse Clinician
  • Vanessa Wrzesien, Nurse Practictioner
  • Emily Di Lauro, Administrative Agent
Contact us

Our team members can be reached at (514)412-2253 for non-urgent issues.  Alternatively, families and staff members can page us via the hospital’s Locating service for more urgent issues at (514)412-4400, extension 53333. You can also ask your Montreal Children’s Hospital-based physician to consult PACT to discuss how we might be helpful.

Refer a patient 

Room: A 02.3734, Montreal Children’s Hospital - Glen site

Phone: (514) 412-4370 (administrative agent)

Fax: (514) 412-4443