Essential Care for Children

Helping parents focus on what matters most. We want your child and your family to thrive at home.

Expert Pediatric Care

Essential Care for Children provides comprehensive, home-based palliative care to medically complex children and helps to minimize hospital stays and emergency room visits.

We help families navigate complex medical services, as well as provide psychosocial, emotional and spiritual support for their children. We are here to help infants to adolescents in Erie county and parts of Niagara and Genesee counties.

Anyone - physician, family or friend – can refer a child to our services.

Essential Care for Children includes:

  • Physician consultation for palliative care
  • Specially trained nurses, social workers, spiritual care counselors and expressive therapists working closely with the child’s pediatrician and specialists to improve symptom management and quality of life
  • Education and guidance about the illness
  • Navigation across medical settings (i.e. from hospital to home)
  • 24/7 on-call availability by pediatric registered nurses to help both children and families thrive at home
  • Help with developing goals of care
  • Connections with primary physician, clinics, specialists, community services and financial assistance programs
  • Emotional support for the child, as well as their caregivers, siblings and other family members

Anyone - physician, family or friend – can refer a child to our services.

To get in touch, call us at 716-686-8006 or fill out an online form.

Your Essential Care team

Essential Care for Children provides comfort-focused medical care and social, emotional and spiritual support for patients and their families through a collaborative team that includes:

  • Palliative Care Physician
  • Pediatric Registered Nurse
  • Social Worker
  • Spiritual Care support
  • Volunteers
  • Expressive therapies (music, art and massage)
  • Bereavement services

We care for children with a wide variety of medical diagnosis including, but not limited to, illnesses such as spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), Muscular Dystrophy, Congenital Heart Defect, Seizure disorder, and pediatric cancers.

While we do provide hospice care, the majority of the children in our program receive palliative care.

No – palliative care is available to adults and children at any time during a serious illness, even while receiving treatment, to improve quality of life by offering pain, symptom and stress management.

Hospice care is for adults and children with chronic, progressive illness with a prognosis of 6 months or less.  Unlike adults, children can often continue curative and life-prolonging treatments, while receiving hospice care.  

Learn more to Understand Hospice vs Palliative Care

No, anyone can refer a child, including a family member or a friend.

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Perinatal Program

Our Perinatal Program provides support, education and guidance to expecting parents and families whose unborn child has a life-limiting illness.

Experience Essential Care for Children

Donate to Help Children and Families

Our Essential Care for Children and Perinatal Program are directly supported through community donations, grants and fundraising. No family is turned away as the needs are significant – your generosity can go a long way.