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Spanning to meet end-of-life needs.

Article Excerpt
Byline: THE HEALTH FILES By Tim Christie The Register-Guard

In May 2003, a group of doctors, social workers, nurses, priests and family members got together to talk about Mary Kerns, and how the last months of her young life should unfold.

The medical options for Kerns, a 9-year-old Eugene girl with recurring leukemia, were dwindling. So for two hours, the group talked about how best to care for Mary, not just medically but also emotionally and spiritually.

Two months later, Mary Kerns died at home, surrounded by her family, as she wanted, thanks in large part to that earlier discussion.

"It really helped make our path a lot smoother," said her mother, Joan Kerns. "We can look back on our experience of her dying with warm feelings. It's still sad, but it's not regretful. They helped us meet her needs and desires."

That meeting was part of an early effort at Doernbecher Children's Hospital at Oregon Health & Science University to improve the comfort and quality of life of children with chronic and terminal diseases, and their families.

Two years later, the hospital formally has established a new program called Bridges, the first pediatric palliative care program in Oregon and part of a growing national trend to address the end-of-life needs of children with cancer and other life-limiting diseases. About a dozen hospitals in the United...

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