A retired Vancouver Island doctor has received a lifetime achievement award for his work in palliative care.

LantzvilleB次元官网网址檚 Dr. Robin Love was presented with the award, from the Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians, in Toronto. The 67-year-old recently retired from his position as medical director of the Nanaimo Regional General HospitalB次元官网网址檚 palliative care program where he served since its inception in 1993.

Palliative care involves treating a person with serious illness using pain management and emotional support. While medication is usually the first thing people think of with palliative care, Love said communication is a vital part of the role.

The doctor first moved to Nanaimo in 1988 and opened a family practice. Seeing a lack of palliative care services available, in 1991 he opened the first palliative care consultation service in the community. Two years later, he was instrumental in opening a 12-bed inpatient palliative care unit.

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Outside of Nanaimo, Love has made 11 trips to Nepal working with palliative care teams in the region through Partners in Compassion B次元官网网址� a relationship between the Nanaimo palliative care unit, Nanaimo community nursing, Nanaimo community hospice and the Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital. Starting in 2005, Love mentored local medical staff on palliative care treatments. At the time, he said Bhaktapur teams had struggled with access to pain relief medication, but over the years it evolved to being a vital, and consistent, medical unit.

B次元官网网址淲hat strikes me now is when we visit our colleagues in the palliative care unit at Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital, the level of complex care for patients is so consistent B次元官网网址� the nursing care, the attention to detail, and the advanced symptom management,B次元官网网址� Love said in a press release. B次元官网网址淭he team is way beyond the basics of just giving morphine and haloperidol. TheyB次元官网网址檙e doing advanced pain management that anybody would be proud of.B次元官网网址�

In 2016, Partners in Compassion joined the umbrella of Two Worlds Cancer Collaboration, and Love was recently appointed a director with that group.

Although heB次元官网网址檚 now officially retired, Love said he still intends to make a 12th trip to the region.

B次元官网网址淓ach time I come back home, IB次元官网网址檓 incredibly grateful for the country we live in, the hospitals we have, and the care we have. It also reinforces that itB次元官网网址檚 the same principles of care no matter what culture or who the people are. ItB次元官网网址檚 kindness, treating people with respect, looking them in the eye, and giving bad news compassionately.B次元官网网址�

The lifetime achievement award serves to B次元官网网址渞ecognize individuals who have made a sustained and lasting contribution to palliative medicineB次元官网网址� and to the society of palliative care physicians.