The health authority reversed the mandate. Our palliative care standards remain protected. Thank you for holding the line.
October 31, 2016
Final supporters
To Ms. Karen Matty, Chair of the Fraser Health Authority Board of Directors
Mr. John Bethel, Chair of Quality Control Committee of the Fraser Health Authority Board
cc: Honorable Christy Clark, Premier of BC; Honorable Dr. Terry Lake, Minister of Health;
Re: Provision of Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD) in hospices and palliative care units in the Fraser Health Authority
As concerned citizens, it has come to our attention that all non-faith-based hospices and palliative care units in the Fraser Health Authority may be required to offer euthanasia and assisted suicide (MAiD) on their premises. This is extremely distressing and would destroy the strong hospice and palliative care system in Fraser Health. The World Health Organization defines palliative care as encompassing whole person care for patients and families that treats all symptoms with excellence and compassion and “neither hastens nor prolongs natural death.” Clearly, this care does not include euthanasia or assisted suicide (MAiD).
Patients at end of life are extremely vulnerable, and those who have chosen hospice or palliative care must be completely confident that they will be safe and treated without reference or exposure to hastened death in any form. Decades of dedicated effort and education have been invested to reassure patients and the public that palliative care does NOT seek to hasten death. How sad to unravel all this careful work! Studies and statistics in jurisdictions where MAiD is already practiced confirm that wrongful deaths do occur despite so-called “safeguards.” Mandating, or even allowing, MAiD to be practiced in hospice or palliative care facilities would seriously undermine patient safety and comfort. Trust will be eroded and suffering will be greatly increased for many patients and families if the crucial perception of refuge and sanctuary is compromised in any way. Hospices and palliative care units are designed to function as integrated communities, and patients and families are very aware of all that happens, is discussed and is recommended there. This will be true of everything regarding MAiD, and will, without a doubt, cause fear and confusion, deterring many from seeking the help they desperately need. This may even mean that some would choose to avoid palliative care units and hospice facilities altogether or to go to faith-based facilities which may be far from their homes and loved ones, outcomes that would reflect very poorly on end of life care in Fraser Health.
Providing MAiD in specific, designated facilities that are distinct and separate from hospice and palliative care would go a long way to preventing some of these negative consequences of MAiD. It would also ensure that those who seek and qualify for these procedures have access to facilities that have the expertise and resources to accommodate these requests in a timely and respectful manner.
When dealing with particularly vulnerable patients, those in authority have the critical responsibility to reduce risks and to minimize harm. A complete separation between MAiD and palliative and hospice care is crucial in maintaining patient safety and reducing both the tragedy and the liability of wrongful deaths.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
Updates
Reached 2,500 supporters
September 29, 2016
Reached 1,000 supporters
September 27, 2016
Reached 100 supporters
September 24, 2016
September 22, 2016
We are approaching one hundred signatures. Keep pushing so we have a strong showing before our next step.
29 Comments
I am a registered nurse who has worked in palliative care for many years. The dying process is a very sacred event when life is respected and symptoms carefully managed. Everyone, patient and family, and staff too, win when dignity for the individual is maintained by honouring life. Mary McElhone, R.N.
I have attended to the needs of palliative patients for over 15 years as an RN and not once have I seen any indication or family/patient request for assisted suicide. There has always been available adequately trained staff, pharmaceutical agents and convectional comfort measures in every situation. MAiDS is not necessary and certainly not so in palliative care centers.
I am so thankful that we as a family could experience a special time with my husband during his last week in Palliative Care at ARHCC. It was a safe place knowing the staff was there to make your loved one as comfortable as possible. Knowing now that there could be a possibility of MAiD in the mix would not make me feel safe.
My dad was treated in Abbotsford and then Maple Ridge for an aggressive form of brain cancer. He received excellent palliative care, for which I am very thankful. I would hate to think how his final months would have been had MAiD been present in the very environments meant to provide him proper end-of-life care. He needed care, not killing. The thought that my dad could have been killed in the place meant to provide him care makes me sick to my stomach. I enjoyed our final 2 weeks together (I live in Ontario) and had a health professional decided my dad should have been killed prematurely, our special time together would have been cut short and I would have missed out on many special memories.
I am very concerned that doctor assisted dying in the hospitals would mean that people would be encouraged to choose to die instead of live their dying well and naturally. I am further concerned that elderly or intellectually disabled people would be pressured to consent to this option if it were made available. Access to palliative care aligns with the mission of hospitals and should be emphasized. If doctor assisted dying is an option I'm afraid that people would choose death over living in order not to be a 'burden' to the system, their family etc. Let's invest our resources into palliative care instead of setting up this system in our hospitals.
Enforcing MAID in Palliative and Hospice Care units will degrade the Mission of these long fought-for Services. Years ago when my father lay dying in his final hours, our family gathered around his bed to pray. As his breathing slowed, he was in a sacred place of Spirit - that ether between the soul and God. To think that during that vulnerable time, had a doctor come along to interrupt this natural transition with a lethal injection, “to hasten the process” is so repugnantly cold-blooded, and such a violence. Instead of a cherished time of goodbye, a sad but loving memory, it would now be something I could not bear to contemplate.
Life can be difficult and painful. You don't need to go far to find those who will agree, like maybe the next person you talk to. :) Those same people will tell you their life's difficulties have often provided an opportunity to consider heart questions like who am I, what is most important, and what is my destiny. Many of us spend our lives consciously, or sub-consciously, pondering some form of these questions. Most of our lives are lived working hard and long to provide basic needs for ourselves, our families, and in some cases the larger community. This has generally occupied "pride of place" in our lives, and these things are honorable and good. It has also been said "good is the enemy of great". Every hour we are given on this earth whether easy or difficult is one more hour of opportunity to know the creator and his unique plan for each of us. It is only through the loving personal sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the way, the truth and the life, that we have been given the unobstructed way to an eternity of unthinkable joy. God is always extending his invitation to an eternity with Him and has given each and every one of us time in this life to accept or reject it. MAiD will artificially cut short this time for discernment and willful change of heart, not only causing the loss of the last few earthly weeks, months or years of a God created life of irreplaceable value but possibly the loss of the eternal life of joy for which we have all been created.
Share this petition
Share this petition to help it reach more people.
Your share link
The health authority reversed the mandate. Our palliative care standards remain protected. Thank you for holding the line.
October 31, 2016
Final supporters
To Ms. Karen Matty, Chair of the Fraser Health Authority Board of Directors
Mr. John Bethel, Chair of Quality Control Committee of the Fraser Health Authority Board
cc: Honorable Christy Clark, Premier of BC; Honorable Dr. Terry Lake, Minister of Health;
Re: Provision of Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD) in hospices and palliative care units in the Fraser Health Authority
As concerned citizens, it has come to our attention that all non-faith-based hospices and palliative care units in the Fraser Health Authority may be required to offer euthanasia and assisted suicide (MAiD) on their premises. This is extremely distressing and would destroy the strong hospice and palliative care system in Fraser Health. The World Health Organization defines palliative care as encompassing whole person care for patients and families that treats all symptoms with excellence and compassion and “neither hastens nor prolongs natural death.” Clearly, this care does not include euthanasia or assisted suicide (MAiD).
Patients at end of life are extremely vulnerable, and those who have chosen hospice or palliative care must be completely confident that they will be safe and treated without reference or exposure to hastened death in any form. Decades of dedicated effort and education have been invested to reassure patients and the public that palliative care does NOT seek to hasten death. How sad to unravel all this careful work! Studies and statistics in jurisdictions where MAiD is already practiced confirm that wrongful deaths do occur despite so-called “safeguards.” Mandating, or even allowing, MAiD to be practiced in hospice or palliative care facilities would seriously undermine patient safety and comfort. Trust will be eroded and suffering will be greatly increased for many patients and families if the crucial perception of refuge and sanctuary is compromised in any way. Hospices and palliative care units are designed to function as integrated communities, and patients and families are very aware of all that happens, is discussed and is recommended there. This will be true of everything regarding MAiD, and will, without a doubt, cause fear and confusion, deterring many from seeking the help they desperately need. This may even mean that some would choose to avoid palliative care units and hospice facilities altogether or to go to faith-based facilities which may be far from their homes and loved ones, outcomes that would reflect very poorly on end of life care in Fraser Health.
Providing MAiD in specific, designated facilities that are distinct and separate from hospice and palliative care would go a long way to preventing some of these negative consequences of MAiD. It would also ensure that those who seek and qualify for these procedures have access to facilities that have the expertise and resources to accommodate these requests in a timely and respectful manner.
When dealing with particularly vulnerable patients, those in authority have the critical responsibility to reduce risks and to minimize harm. A complete separation between MAiD and palliative and hospice care is crucial in maintaining patient safety and reducing both the tragedy and the liability of wrongful deaths.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
Updates
Reached 2,500 supporters
September 29, 2016
Reached 1,000 supporters
September 27, 2016
Reached 100 supporters
September 24, 2016
September 22, 2016
We are approaching one hundred signatures. Keep pushing so we have a strong showing before our next step.
29 Comments
Someone dying who opts for palliative care deserves the security of knowing that the palliative care unit and staff are there to provide support, dignity and pain alleviation. Requiring palliative care and hospice units to provide euthanasia and assisted suicide gravely impairs the mission of palliative care and undermines the trust and security that the palliative care patient seeks.
I am a registered nurse who has worked in palliative care for many years. The dying process is a very sacred event when life is respected and symptoms carefully managed. Everyone, patient and family, and staff too, win when dignity for the individual is maintained by honouring life. Mary McElhone, R.N.
I have attended to the needs of palliative patients for over 15 years as an RN and not once have I seen any indication or family/patient request for assisted suicide. There has always been available adequately trained staff, pharmaceutical agents and convectional comfort measures in every situation. MAiDS is not necessary and certainly not so in palliative care centers.
I am so thankful that we as a family could experience a special time with my husband during his last week in Palliative Care at ARHCC. It was a safe place knowing the staff was there to make your loved one as comfortable as possible. Knowing now that there could be a possibility of MAiD in the mix would not make me feel safe.
My dad was treated in Abbotsford and then Maple Ridge for an aggressive form of brain cancer. He received excellent palliative care, for which I am very thankful. I would hate to think how his final months would have been had MAiD been present in the very environments meant to provide him proper end-of-life care. He needed care, not killing. The thought that my dad could have been killed in the place meant to provide him care makes me sick to my stomach. I enjoyed our final 2 weeks together (I live in Ontario) and had a health professional decided my dad should have been killed prematurely, our special time together would have been cut short and I would have missed out on many special memories.
I am very concerned that doctor assisted dying in the hospitals would mean that people would be encouraged to choose to die instead of live their dying well and naturally. I am further concerned that elderly or intellectually disabled people would be pressured to consent to this option if it were made available. Access to palliative care aligns with the mission of hospitals and should be emphasized. If doctor assisted dying is an option I'm afraid that people would choose death over living in order not to be a 'burden' to the system, their family etc. Let's invest our resources into palliative care instead of setting up this system in our hospitals.
Enforcing MAID in Palliative and Hospice Care units will degrade the Mission of these long fought-for Services. Years ago when my father lay dying in his final hours, our family gathered around his bed to pray. As his breathing slowed, he was in a sacred place of Spirit - that ether between the soul and God. To think that during that vulnerable time, had a doctor come along to interrupt this natural transition with a lethal injection, “to hasten the process” is so repugnantly cold-blooded, and such a violence. Instead of a cherished time of goodbye, a sad but loving memory, it would now be something I could not bear to contemplate.
Life can be difficult and painful. You don't need to go far to find those who will agree, like maybe the next person you talk to. :) Those same people will tell you their life's difficulties have often provided an opportunity to consider heart questions like who am I, what is most important, and what is my destiny. Many of us spend our lives consciously, or sub-consciously, pondering some form of these questions. Most of our lives are lived working hard and long to provide basic needs for ourselves, our families, and in some cases the larger community. This has generally occupied "pride of place" in our lives, and these things are honorable and good. It has also been said "good is the enemy of great". Every hour we are given on this earth whether easy or difficult is one more hour of opportunity to know the creator and his unique plan for each of us. It is only through the loving personal sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the way, the truth and the life, that we have been given the unobstructed way to an eternity of unthinkable joy. God is always extending his invitation to an eternity with Him and has given each and every one of us time in this life to accept or reject it. MAiD will artificially cut short this time for discernment and willful change of heart, not only causing the loss of the last few earthly weeks, months or years of a God created life of irreplaceable value but possibly the loss of the eternal life of joy for which we have all been created.
Share this petition
Share this petition to help it reach more people.
Your share link
Petitions like this
Other petitions you might want to support
Scan to share
Anyone who scans this can sign the petition.
Someone dying who opts for palliative care deserves the security of knowing that the palliative care unit and staff are there to provide support, dignity and pain alleviation. Requiring palliative care and hospice units to provide euthanasia and assisted suicide gravely impairs the mission of palliative care and undermines the trust and security that the palliative care patient seeks.