The Joint Commission reports that only a quarter of U.S. hospitals have complete  palliative-care teams.

The Joint Commission  called on hospitals to deliver palliative care to Americans suffering from chronic and serious illnesses with  teams including a physician, a nurse, a social worker and a chaplain.

Regional variation in palliative care in the U.S. is  striking.  In New England, 88 percent of hospitals had palliative-care programs at last count, as did 77 percent of hospitals in the Pacific and Mid-Atlantic states. But in the south-central region, only about 40 percent of hospitals did.

For a Reuters overview on this topic, please hit this link.