A palliative program partnership between Facey Medical Group and Providence TrinityCare has helped chronically ill patients in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys avoid the emergency room, according to a study from Duke University’s Margolis Center for Health Policy. The study found a 70 percent reduction in hospital admissions in 2017 and 55 percent reduction in trips to the emergency department. Shortly before partnering, TrinityCare received a grant from the UniHealth Foundation to expand palliative care in the Valley, Providence said in a statement. The program, introduced in 2016, provides home visits, after-hour access, education, regular check-ins by phone, social work and chaplaincy support if requested. Providence credits a multidisciplinary team, 24-hour access to patients and electronic medical record coordination for the program’s success. Many patients involved in the program suffer from heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease or diabetes.