DR. WERNER BOLDT has a friendly word with one of the patients in the P.C.U.

ward at Lions Gate Hospital. (Terry Peters photo)

tek westlynn mall

The Name Says It all

April 14, 1982

‘north shore news

Tel. 985-2131

An alternative to ‘treatment’

For many people cancer
can be beaten. But there are
others who have undergone
all possible radiotherapy,
chemotherapy and surgery,
who must face the fact that
their condition is terminal.
With the explosion in
medical knowledge and
technology, dying has
become more difficult.
Patients can be kept alive for
a very long time by artificial
means. Dying in _ hospital
may mean being surrounded
by life support equipment,
hooked up with intravenous
lines, injected with drugs,
constantly maintained,
attached to a respirator, with
every possible effort made at
resuscitation when the end
finally comes.

In recent years, health
professionals recognized
that perhaps this was not the
best way to care for the
dying. The hospice
movement, which began in
the U.K., has spread as
society demands death with
dignity.

North Shore  physicans
and nurses have long been
aware of the needs of ter-
minal patients and their
families. Several years ago
they instituted successful
Coping with Cancer groups.
Their concern led them to
investigate the possibility of
a community hospice — a
separate building where
patients could live in a

home-like setting, where
care concentrated on
keeping patients com-

fortable and as productive as

possible, with no heroics.
One of the instigators was

LGH hematologist-oncolog-

985-7615

By VICKI O'BRIEN

ist Dr. Werner Boldt. “We
looked into the hospice
situation and it soon became
clear that there was no
possibility of getting
government funding. Rather
than wait for years, as others
chose to do, we decided to
go it alone. We formed a
society, got a number of
local businessmen in-
terested, then we took our
ideas to the hospital Board,
the departments of
medicine, surgery and family
practice.

“With the pressure on
beds at the hospital I was
worried about asking too
much. We asked that they
set aside six beds _ for
palliative care, pointing out
that for every bed we could
maintain three patients in
the community. Everyone
was very supportive — in
fact so much so that I wish
we had asked for more!”
Studies show that in an acute
care community hospital
such as LGH, five per cent
of all beds could be usefully
given over to palliative care
— three times the present

SECTION

WOMEN ° FOOD
TRAVEL

A PLACE FULL OF LIFE

OF THE 15,000 patients admitted to Lions Gate
Hospital each year, 750 suffer from cancer. The
disease is responsible for one-third of all the
deaths in our community.

number.

Boldt volunteered to
act as Director of the unit
which was finally opened in
January 1981. Because of the
seriousness of the problem,
and the limited number of
beds, only cancer patients
are accepted. In its first year
140 patients were referred to
the program by their family
doctors or the Cancer
Control Agency of B.C. Dr.
Boldt claims that the unit has
saved between 70 and 90
hospital days per patient
“about the only medical
treatment I know of that
actually cuts hospital costs.”

This happened because
staff of the PCU show it is
possible to keep patients
comfortable which en-
courages families to take
their loved ones home. This
is on the understanding that
they can be brought back
into hospital at any time of
the day or night, if the
pressure becomes too great.
Families are given all
necessary support from
public health and home care
nurses and homemakers.

This community support
permits many patients to die
at home, with their families
around them. If all con-
cerned prefer that the
patient remain in hospital
the emphasis is on con-

CONTINUED ON PAGE C2

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