LOOKING BACK: When George and Gracie visited Gracie’s alma mater
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PAPYRUS MYSTERY:
CARING FOR CREATION:
Text’s Jesus’ “wife” reference stirs debate
Honoring St. Francis’ ecological vision
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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO Newspaper of the Archdiocese of San Francisco
SERVING SAN FRANCISCO, MARIN & SAN MATEO COUNTIES
www.catholic-sf.org
SEPTEMBER 28, 2012
$1.00 | VOL. 14 NO. 29
Sales tax measure ‘pivotal’ for Seton Medical Center GEORGE RAINE CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO
lain, a home health aide and specially trained volunteers help dying children and their families make the most of their last days, whether at home or in a hospital or nursing home setting. Anything from household chores to looking after siblings can be part of the hospice program, and the team also offers family counseling and grief and bereavement services when needed. These kinds of programs are duplicated throughout the country, but too few people know about them when the time comes for them to use them. “Most palliative care patients come in late,” said Dr. Scott Miller, team physician at the Center for Compassionate Care in Pittsburgh. On average, his patients come in three weeks before their deaths, when they could
San Mateo County voters on Nov. 6 will consider a half-cent sales tax increase that, if it is approved, may be a potential lifeline for Seton Medical Center, an iconic Catholic institution in the region with a mission to provide care for poor and underserved people. The alternative, a no vote, could ultimately lead to closure. Seton, in Daly City, as well as 425 other acute-care hospitals in California, struggles with the most expensive unfunded mandate in California history – legislation that requires hospitals to meet high seismic standards by certain deadlines or close. Seton will need to construct a new facility by 2020 and is dependent upon San Mateo County voters and consumers to help provide assistance on election day. Nothing about the proposal, Measure A, is cast in stone and the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors will make choices if the tax is approved, but supervisors placed the matter on the ballot with the expectation that $60 million would be raised annually over 10 years. The money would very likely support a broad range of county services, including child abuse prevention, 911 dispatch, fire prevention, after-school library reading/homework programs and a portion would be earmarked for Seton, the provider of care, the supervisors noted, for low-income children, seniors and the disabled, to meet state seismic safety requirements. “The only reason that we are in the scope of services that we are in is because of our mission, and that is set out by our sponsors, the Daughters of Charity, to attend to the needs of the sick, the poor and the elderly,” said James P. Schuessler, Seton’s interim CEO. He added, “How long we can sustain that in the current economy without the support of the community we
SEE PALLIATIVE, PAGE 13
SEE MEASURE A, PAGE 13
(CNS PHOTO/NANCY PHELAN WIECHEC)
Family members watch over Leo King at his bedside at the Center for Compassionate Care in Pittsburgh Sept. 7. King, an 84-year-old urologist and veteran of World War II, died the following day with family at his side. At left is his sister Patricia King.
Palliative care fits Catholic health mission, but too few aware of it NANCY FRAZIER O’BRIEN CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
WASHINGTON – The National Palliative Care Research Center estimates that 90 million Americans are living with serious or life-threatening illnesses and the number is expected to double over the next 25 years. People nearing the end of life and their families often are confused about the options available to them in terms of pain control and about whether they have an obligation to use all of the life-prolonging technology available to them. These discussions are particularly lively among Catholics and in the West Coast states where physicianassisted suicide is a legal option. In Washington, the latest state to legalize assisted suicide, Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spo-
kane offers an alternative way of dying. It provides “comfort care suites” that allow family members to stay with their dying relative in a homelike environment. Music thanatologists specially trained to soothe the seriously ill with their voices or the playing of harps are on staff. Health care professionals participate in education programs on palliative medicine and the ethical, moral and legal issues involved in end-of-life care. A meditation garden outside the hospital is open 24 hours a day and gives family members and patients who are well enough an opportunity to experience a peaceful area of waterfalls, streams and walking paths. At TrinityKids Care, a pediatric hospice program in Torrance, teams made up of a pediatrician, a registered nurse, a clinical social worker, a chap-
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