Dear Editor:
Health care is crumbling under the stress of its entrepreneurship, trying to reinvent itself when it comes to caring for those who are seriously ill and the impact on the families involved.
We are collapsing under the entropy of it all, bogged down in corporate systems that are trying really hard to help, but are failing.
We can all take a lesson from a lovely doctor who has been practising palliative medicine for 35 years on the North Shore and that is Dr. Paul Sugar.
Here is a man who continually is in a relationship with his patients, providing comfort and support so no one endures serious illness without respect and dignity and comfort.
“Where the rubber meets the road” is when a family member falls ill. That is the wake-up call. Suddenly, all those things we thought were important – aren’t. We come back to relationship.
Creating right relationship is what Dr. Sugar shows us every day, by his example. He cares about you and your family members who are struggling with the new norms that illness has created. Now that is true community. That level of caring seems to be few and far between these days.
He is inspiring. His passion and dedication is reflected in the creation of the Paul Sugar Palliative Support Centre of which I am proud to say I am a volunteer. There is hope! We can affect change and make a difference.
Maria Kenney
North Vancouver
Editor’s note: The community is invited to a celebration in honour of Dr. Paul Sugar, next Tuesday, June 27, 6-9 p.m. at Two Lions Public House in Westview Shopping Centre.
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