Hospice of the Upper Galilee
	BECAUSE WE VALUE LIFE.... Hospice isn't about dying. It's about living - living every moment fully, even joyfully, without pain or fear or loneliness. ABOUT THE PHOTO Michael was a 54-year-old teacher with lung cancer. He was under our care during the last months of his life. The photograph was taken a week before Michael died. He asked us to make use of it to help explain what our Hospice is about. WHAT IS THE NEED The people of Israel's Galilee panhandle are no strangers to hardship. Since before the founding of the State and until today, those who live in the Upper Galilee have known terrorist incursions and katyusha rocket attacks. A generation of children has grown up in bomb shelters. Those are the hardships that make the newspaper headlines. But residents of the Upper Galilee face other hardships as well, hardships that are not dramatic enough to make newspaper headlines but that sap the strength and vitality of the population. Those hardships derive from the inaccessibility of public services that are taken for granted by those living in Israel's metropolitan areas. Services for patients with advanced cancer are a case in point. Patients living in Tel Aviv who suffer from advanced cancer have for more than 15 years had ready access to both home and inpatient hospice services. But until the establishment of our Hospice, when comparable patients in the Upper Galilee became seriously ill, they had no prospect of receiving palliative care at home or in a hospice bed within a reasonable distance of their home; they had either to be hospitalized when their symptoms became difficult or to be transferred to a hospice many miles away - either arrangement creating further hardship and distress for the patients and their families. Knesset Speaker Dan Tichon presents Prof. Caroline with award.   The problem is not a trivial one. Every year, 300 new cases of cancer are diagnosed among residents of the Upper Galilee. And as the population ages, the rate of new cases increases. The need for palliative care services in our region is therefore increasing year by year. WHAT IS HOSPICE OF THE UPPER GALILEE (HUG)? Hospice of the Upper Galilee is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization recognized by the government of Israel, academically linked to the Tel Hashomer Hospice, and endorsed by the Israeli Cancer Society. We have the following objectives: To operate a home palliative care service for cancer patients in the Upper Galilee and northern Golan Heights. To build and operate an inpatient hospice service for cancer patients requiring symptom stabilization, respite care, or terminal care, where care at home is for any reason not possible. To provide bereavement counseling for members of the patient's family. To organize and coordinate the work of hospice volunteers. To serve as an information resource on palliative care to physicians and nurses of the Sick Funds and rural settlements, in order to assist them in their day-to-day care of cancer patients. To conduct seminars and workshops in palliative care for the local medical community. To produce educational materials on palliative care for patients, their families, and the medical teams that care for them. A LOOK AT OUR RECORD Since the establishment of Hospice of the Upper Galilee in 1995, we have cared for more than 150 patients suffering from advanced cancer. Our patients have ranged in age from 2 to 97 years and have come from every sector of the community - from villages and towns, from kibbutzim and moshavim, from Jewish, Arab, and Druze populations. Among our patients who have died, nearly 70 percent have been enabled, because of the hospice services, to die at home, surrounded by loved ones. Our staff has grown to include two palliative care physicians, an oncology nurse, a nurse/administrator, a social worker, and a director of volunteers. We provide round-the-clock service to our patients 365 days a year. HOW YOU CAN HELP Nearly every hospice organization depends on the generosity of donors to carry out its mission. Hospice of the Upper Galilee is no exception. While we receive a small reimbursement for our services from the General Sick Fund, that reimbursement does not cover our costs or enable expansion of our services. Your donation can help us to: Provide additional staffing so that we can reach a larger patient population. Purchase equipment and medical supplies that will enable more patients to spend their last days in the comfort of their homes. Cover transport costs of making house calls to a population that is widely dispersed over a large geographic area. Build an inpatient facility that will enable patients who cannot be cared for at home to receive palliative care in a place near their friends and families. Train and mobilize hospice volunteers to make home visits and help ease the burden of families who choose to care for a loved one at home. Conduct seminars in palliative medicine to increase the skills of primary physicians and nurses in our region. Produce educational materials for our patients and their caregivers.