By Kathleen M. Gallagher
As former Vice President Joe Biden recently reminded us as he discussed his late son’s battle with brain cancer during a television appearance, “You’ve got to maintain hope. There is always hope.”
Yes there is. Where can terminal cancer patients in New York State find hope? Here are just a few of the gems we have right here in our own backyard.
- Calvary Hospital in the Bronx is an acute care specialty hospital providing palliative care for adult cancer patients. Calvary provides the whole continuum of care: inpatient, outpatient, home care, hospice, pastoral care, bereavement support. Dr. Michael Brescia, the Executive Medical Director of Calvary, says that with high quality care, appropriate pain management, compassion and comfort, Calvary is able to reduce patient anxiety and prevent patients from saying they want to die.
- Rosary Hill Home in Hawthorne, NY is lovingly operated by the Catholic Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne and provides free nursing and palliative care to cancer patients. Their motto: “We cannot cure our patients, but we can assure the dignity and value of their final days, and keep them comfortable and free of pain.”
- In upstate New York, the Catholic Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm provide an array of palliative care, institutional care, and home care services, offering compassionate care and accompanying each person through a debilitating diagnosis with comprehensive person-centered care right through to the end of their life.
_______________________
