World Hospice Day draws benevolent givers
Early dawn of October 8, a motorcade parade roared around city streets to signal the World Hospice Day celebration at the excitement of terminally-ill cancer patients and their caring families.
Dr. Anabelle Pabiona De Guzman, President of the Hospice and Family Care Fooundation, Inc., who painstakingly exerted great effort in making the magnanimous project real successful on August 9, 2002. She spearheaded the daylong celebration last Saturday held at the rooftop of the supply building of the Western Visayas Medical Center in Mandurriao this city.
What is Hospice Care? It is the care of terminally-ill cancer patients particularly those left only with six months to live, regardless of class, gender, age, ethnicity, religious background and geographical location. It is quite tragic that cancer patients especially the indigent suffer lonely death. Short of finances due to medical bills, often abandoned by friends and loved ones, depressed due to their physical condition and often alone in their last days of life on earth. Thus Hospice Care seeks to make their dying days full of life because doctors could no longer add days to life.
It was in the early month of August that a Memorandum of Agreement signed by the Medical Center Chief, Dr. Jose Mari C. Fermin and the Foundation President, Dr. Anabelle P. de Guzman that resulted in the donation of an 800 square meters lot at the back of the hospital where a P20 million Hospice Care facility will be put up. The Foundation will raise the money in order to put up the building and will jointly manage the health care services for the Hospice patients with the Medical Center. Manpower and staffing will be provided by the Western Visayas Medical Center. The PCSO has pledged P20 million for this laudable project and an initial amount of P1.5 million was released for the Phase I construction which is ongoing at present located at the rear portion of DOH regional office in Mandurriao.
Fund raising in the form of rummage sale, voluntary contribution and pledges from friends of Hospice have been resorted to raise the P15 million amount to put up three-storey building. Last Saturday, Gov. Neil Tupas, Sr. of Iloilo pledged P100,000, Pastor Maggie Hofilena herself a victim of breast cancer, gave P10,000 and Nelie Oblegacion shelled out P10,000. After appeals for Hospice Foundation funds were made by Father Idelfonso Tagamolila, Chaplain of the hospital and Rev. Wilson Gonzales of the Trinity Church, many visitors, nurses and doctors present put in their hundreds and more pesos to the offering basket. Dr. Anabelle de Guzman is confident that the goal of P15 million will be realized as soon as philanthropists in Iloilo, including civic, religious, the academe, businessmen and private citizens also have the heart to help cancer patients will send in their contribution for this noble cause.
Hospice uses an interdisciplinary team which includes physicians, nurses, social workers, counselors, clergy and volunteers. It emphasizes in keeping patients at home with family and friends as long as possible, family support is the key part of hospice care. The knowledge that this love one is getting the best care helps family members tremendously hospice can assist as well.
The first Hospice Center opened in China as a nursing home and an old people’s home. Japan in 1977 started by the Baptist Missionaries; Korea in 1965, Singapore in December 1965, India in April 1997, Vietnam in 1997 started by Volunteers’ International in the United States of America and in Iloilo in 2002, the first ever hospice in the Philippines.