Most US citizens die in acute care hospitals, often in physical pain, without attention to
emotional and spiritual suffering. This represents an ethical failure of our current health-care
system. The field of palliative medicine aims to address the physical, emotional, and spiritual
needs of patients with advanced disease. At the same time, a new specialty of hospitalists is
emerging, providing care for acutely ill hospitalized patients, many of whom will die. Thus,
the hospitalist may become the primary deliverer of palliative care. This presents many …