"...You don't
want to give up too early, but it's really great if you can
be blessed with a sense of peace as you get closer to the
end..."
- John J. Gohmann, M.D. oncologyst.
A hospice is a charitable establishment supported by the state,
both a medical and a social institution. It serves cancer
patients at an advanced stage of their illness. A high level
of professionalism and compassion in those who devote themselves
to care for the suffering - that is the essence of a hospice.
To receive any payment from those we care for or those close
to them is totally unacceptable. Conditions for the patient
and family must be as close to domestic comfort as possible.
Hospice means the opportunity to live without pain, fear and
loneliness, to use the remaining time of the patient's life
to the utmost. That is control of all symptoms, psychological
as well as physical, and spiritual support for the patient
according to the patient's wishes. Whatever needs to be done
to relieve the special pain felt by our patients, we will
do it. Some patients need full information about the seriousness
of their condition, others cannot accept that knowledge. Each
of them has the right to know what is best for them. To support
both these types of people, we must treat them completely
differently.
Doses of narcotics will vary with the individual patient,
but they must always be adequate for the intensity of symptoms
that is present. That very rarely happens in conventional
hospitals. The devotion of our medical staff must also be
at a higher level. Whatever the patient wants, if it is possible
we will do it. We will accommodate any wish, any caprice.
We respect the patient's right to remain an individual and
to express their personality until the end.
It means teaching relatives to care for the patient. Our patients
are very different people themselves, and their homes also
differ very widely. We must find the right way to deal with
the individual situation of sick people's families, as well
as their own.
It means psychological and practical support for family members
not only at the time they are losing a loved one, but long
afterwards. To care properly for a patient means not to forget
about those who are left behind. They must be as important
to us as they were to the person they entrusted to us.
It means the availability of professional help, specialized
when needed, all day and all night, all year round, and continuing
education of staff and volunteers at the highest professional
level.
We want to build a hospice that can live on, so that our
patients will never be abandoned.
We believe that only a free facility can be called a hospice,
and that the hospice movement deserves the support of society.
Our hospice is free to all and receives state financing. Private
and corporate donations, contributions of government and non-governmental
organizations, and church funding are sources of supplementary
funding. All funds are spent under the strict oversight of a
committee appointed by VALE.
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