by Robert A. Duke Greetings, Cancer Center Board of Directors: Artwork by Hilary Cole Is there a sadder comment on cancer care than “I wish someone had told me?” That was my wish in 2009 about my wife’s glioblastoma treatment and was the despairing 2018 wish of a [Read More...]
Artwork by Hilary Cole by Robert A. Duke Its title alone demands your attention, but this form may also impact your death one day: Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST)! The orders are your orders to an unknown physician(s) suddenly confronted with life or death treatment when [Read More...]
by Robert A. Duke Healthcare Providers and Public in Landmark Meeting on End-of-Life Issues Artwork by Hilary Cole “Rumors and Realities” was an apt title for the Jan. 17, 2018, standing-room-only public meeting about dying in Whatcom County. Community rumors were rife that PeaceHealth’s St. Joseph Medical Center’s [Read More...]
by Robert A. Duke Getting the healthcare you want can be as simple as asking your doctor what’s available. As to prescription (Rx) medications, patients most often search for lower cost options. That sounds simple enough, but it can be difficult to know what the questions are. Artwork by [Read More...]
by Robert A. Duke What does “single-payer healthcare really mean? Some say it is the future of healthcare, or the solution to reforming the existing healthcare monstrosity America has conjured into existence. I recently learned it was both and neither! Single-payer is not what I thought it was, and maybe [Read More...]
by Robert A. Duke Allan Pinkerton of detective fame devised the first Rogues Gallery in 1855. It was a compilation of descriptions, methods of operation, hiding places and names of criminals and their associates. My rogues’ gallery doesn’t feature criminals but rather a collection of medical specialists notable for their [Read More...]
by Robert A. Duke A Salute to Inspired Citizen Healthcare Where do caregivers go when they lose their patients? It rarely ends any other way, but when patient and caregiver are separated by institutional care, hospice or death, the end of caregiving leaves the caregiver stunned, grieving and adrift. Regardless [Read More...]
by Robert A. Duke It was public knowledge on Nov. 9, 2016,* that PeaceHealth was negotiating the sale of its medical labs, but the deal, which closed on Feb. 15, 2017, surprised Bellingham’s Family Care Network (FCN). Responding to my July 10, 2017, letter concerning FCN’s exclusion from the new [Read More...]
Reporter John Simmons contributed to this article. by Robert A. Duke The PeaceHealth St. Joseph Community Health Board exists to help its namesake hospital address unmet local healthcare needs. The board’s mission is to help the hospital write its Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) plan as required by the Internal [Read More...]
by Robert A. Duke “Modern Death: How Medicine Changed the End of Life,” by Haider Warraich, M.D., says modern technology and law have made death more complicated, so maybe you need to be more detailed about what procedures you want at the end of your life. Specifically, you might need [Read More...]