Physician Leader: Dr. Bobby Pohar
Email: Bobby.pohar@sjhsyr.org
Phone: (315) 448-5537
St. Joseph’s Health Hospital hosts Schwartz Center Rounds®, unique, multidisciplinary sessions in which hospital staff explore the emotional side of caregiving. A national program with sites across the country, Schwartz Center Rounds are funded by the Kenneth B. Schwartz Center, a Boston-based non-profit dedicated to advancing compassionate health care. St. Joseph’s is the only Central New York hospital that hosts Schwartz Center Rounds.
In a typical Rounds session, a panel of caregivers presents a patient case that brought up interesting and important psychosocial issues. Topics have included: delivering bad news; when religious or spiritual beliefs conflict with medical advice; taking care of a colleague; and losing a patient. Hospital staff then share their own thoughts and feelings related to the day’s topic. Unlike grand rounds, these sessions are not about clinical problem-solving, by rather about exploring and processing the emotions that come up in the daily work of hospital staff.
A comprehensive study of Schwartz Center Rounds has shown them to help caregivers connect better with patients emotionally; enhance their understanding of the effects of illness on patients and their families; improve communication among caregivers; and decrease feelings of caregiver isolation and stress.