CAPC Launches Initiative to Map Palliative Care Programs Nationwide

New York, NY, Oct. 14, 2026 /CourierPR/ -- The Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC), a national nonprofit organization established in 1999, is launching a new initiative aimed at improving access to specialty palliative care in the United States. The initiative, called the Palliative Care Program Inventory (Program Inventory), will map out where specialty palliative care programs operate across both hospital and community settings. Currently, there is no comprehensive national source showing where specialty palliative care is available across both hospital and community settings.

The Program Inventory will collect information directly from specialty palliative care programs nationwide, including data on staffing, patient volume, and care delivery models. The resulting data will support research, policy, and advocacy efforts to better understand and ultimately expand access to specialty palliative care across the country. The CAPC, which is dedicated to improving quality of life, advancing health equity, and strengthening care delivery for people living with serious illness, will use the data to produce national reports and insights about the state of specialty palliative care.

The Program Inventory includes specialty palliative care programs operating in hospitals as well as community settings, including patient homes, offices and clinics, and long-term care settings. The Inventory is currently collecting program operations data for calendar year 2025. It does not collect patient-level data or protected health information, and program data will be reported publicly only in aggregate. Participation is free and open to all U.S. specialty palliative care programs.

CAPC will use the data to produce national reports and insights about the state of specialty palliative care and inform resources and technical assistance for palliative care programs across the country. Participating programs can also choose to be included in CAPC’s public Palliative Care Provider Directory on GetPalliativeCare.org, which helps patients, families, clinicians, payers, and referral partners locate palliative care services in their communities.

The Palliative Care Program Inventory is made possible through generous support from the McElhattan Foundation and The John A. Hartford Foundation. The initiative is expected to provide a clearer picture of the nation’s palliative care infrastructure and help identify communities and care settings where more work is needed. The CAPC is working to change the current lack of comprehensive national information about where specialty palliative care is available, and where it is still out of reach, by launching the Palliative Care Program Inventory.