The Hospice and Palliative Care Division was opened on the second floor of the Internal Medicine Building of the Hospital renovated in 2016 for the purpose of providing end-of-life palliative care for those who suffer from malignant tumors in a way unparalleled in the region. Our goal is to alleviate the physical and emotional suffering and pain of patients, satisfy their needs, and ensure their dignity, peace, and tranquility. The key is to preserve the best quality of life possible up until the point of death.
The scope of care also extends to the patient’s family and close community, providing outstanding support to help them bear the burden of illness and grief. The division also lowers the burden of treating these patients at other divisions having to provide hospital beds for them.
In line with the principles of palliative care, our division has a multidisciplinary team consisting of specialist physicians and nurses, a specialist psychologist, an expert in mental health, a pastor or priest, dietician, physical therapist, social worker, and trained volunteers. Cancer patients are only admitted to our division when their hospice home care is not feasible any more due to the deterioration of their condition and the worsening of their symptoms. The patient and close family members (or in case of any limitation the guardian of the patient) need to provide informed, written consent for admission. There may be an exception in case of admission when home care is feasible but becomes too long in order to ease the burden of caretakers in the family temporarily.