“You’re in the room often when difficult conversations are happening. But also a lot of beautiful moments, and funny moments too. All of it really. And it’s a privilege.”
A warm, compassionate smile crosses Patti MacDougall’s face as she reflects on her seven years as a palliative consult nurse at Dartmouth General Hospital.
“It’s an opportunity to provide really excellent care to patients and families at a time that is very important in people’s lives, and when time is short,” says Patti. “It’s precious if we can do some things to improve the quality of that time. And that feels satisfying and rewarding.”
A pilot project began in 2023 to have six dedicated palliative care beds at Dartmouth General, thanks to a generous donation of support from the J&W Murphy Foundation.
“It was successful, in that there weren’t negative impacts on patient flow but it also greatly improved the quality of care people were experiencing when we talked with patients and their families,” says Patti. “So we currently have six beds, but we’re imagining into the future that we’d like to expand.”
Patti works with patients who need end of life care in a hospital setting. They may have symptom management issues, or the goals of care may be moving from cure to comfort. She has many stories of special moments shared with those patients and their families. There was a wedding held in the Dartmouth General atrium. There have been early holiday celebrations and graduation gatherings. There was a birthday parade outside the hospital’s doors.
“That’s something I’ll never forget,” she says. “I felt lucky to be there, to witness that. It was quite a gift.”
One thing Patti has heard from families through the years, is that they would love to be able to lie down and be closer with a loved one in palliative care. That hasn’t been easy with the current twin-sized beds. But now a campaign is underway to purchase “cuddle beds” for Dartmouth General. These are medical grade beds, adjustable and easily washable, but they’re larger and able to accommodate that physical closeness for the patient and family.
“It’s more difficult to have that intimate private time when you step into the hospital, you’re not in your own space the same way, and we don’t get those days back,” says Patti. “Certainly it’s common at home that people might be gathered in bed together, to chat or watch a movie, and being able to do that in their room in the hospital, I think is really lovely and meaningful.”
The inspiration for this campaign came from the family of Steve Conrad, who died in palliative care at Dartmouth General in October of 2025. When the family of the late Frank Bragg heard about this, they generously stepped up to match all community donations, to help bring six cuddle beds to the Palliative Care Unit.
“It means so much that at a difficult time, when people are experiencing loss, that they still care enough to be thinking forward about other patients and their families,” says Patti. “It’s really remarkable.”
The hope is to have all palliative care beds at Dartmouth General be cuddle beds. You can find out more and make contributions to the Dartmouth General Hospital Foundation’s Cuddle Bed Campaign by visiting our website here.
National Hospice Palliative Care Week is coming up in early May, and a special panel discussion will be happening in the Dartmouth General Hospital atrium on Wednesday, May 6th at 1pm. This is a partnership between the DGH Foundation and Hospice Halifax. Patti will be sharing her experiences as part of that conversation, which is open to the public.
“We meet amazing patients and families,” she says. “And here at Dartmouth General, it feels like a community within the hospital, but I also feel that we are really connected to the community outside these walls.”
