Glendale Adventist Medical | Healthline Quarterly | Summer 2016

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Congratulations, Edmund Lew, MD
2016 Physician Hero of the Year!
The Healthcare Foundation at Glendale
Adventist Medical Center is proud to recognize
family practice physician Edmund Lew, MD, with
the Physician Hero Award for 2016. This award is
based on nominations from grateful patients.
For more information on how to make a
special tribute in Dr. Lew’s honor, call the GAMC
Healthcare Foundation at (818) 409-8055 or visit
HOSP ICE
A time for comfort and grace
WHEN YOUR LOVED one is
in a critical stage of health, you
and your family may be faced
with some difficult decisions,
including whether to ask your
doctor to initiate hospice care.
“Generally, hospice is for
people who have been evalu-
ated by a qualified physician
and determined to have six
months or less to live and who
are not receiving treatments for
a cure,” explains Edmund Lew,
MD, director of hospice care at Glendale Adventist
Medical Center (GAMC). “The hospice team helps
the patient and their family fulfill their wishes for the
loved one to spend their final months of life without
pain and discomfort—and in the company of loving
family members and friends. We travel that last road
alongside them all to help bring an atmosphere of
peace, comfort and healing during that trying time.”
If a person lives beyond six months, he or she can
continue to receive hospice care.
“Many people in hospice care have cancer, but
some may have conditions such as end-stage heart,
kidney or liver disease; lung disease; AIDS; or de-
mentia,” says Dr. Lew.
Hospice care is based on the belief that each person
has the right to die pain-free and with dignity and
that families should receive the support they need.
WHAT’S INVOLVED The primary focus of hospice is
twofold: to control pain and other symptoms in the
person who is terminally ill and to give emotional
support to the patient and his or her family.
Hospice care is most often provided at home. The
patient’s own doctor or a hospice doctor oversees the
care plan. Regular home visits are provided by reg-
istered or skilled nursing facilities, and health care
personnel are on call 24 hours
a day.
Families also receive in-home
assistance fromhome health aides
with tasks such as bathing a loved
one, and trained volunteers can
come to the home to allow care-
givers some time for themselves.
Social and spiritual services
are available to help patients and
families cope, and families can
continue to receive counseling for
at least a year after the death of a
loved one. Medicare and most Medicaid and private
insurance plans will pay for hospice services.
Adventist Health Hospice–Glendale provides
hospice inpatient care at GAMC for current hospi-
tal patients who wish for hospice support and have
symptoms that need to be managed in an acute care
setting.
Our team of hospice doctors, nurses, social work-
ers, home health aides, therapists, clergy and volun-
teers is devoted to ensuring that our terminally ill
patients are treated with compassion and dignity.
We develop plans of care based on the wishes of our
patients, with the goal of maximizing comfort and
quality of life.
We offer:
■ ■ 24/7 support and availability.
■ ■ Spiritual support unique to
spiritual needs at end of life.
■ ■ Emotional support and
community resources.
■ ■ Bereavement counseling and
support for family members and
caregivers.
■ ■ Medications related to
diagnosis and symptom
management.
■ ■ Coordination of supplies and
medical equipment.
■ ■ Insurance billing services.
Sources: Hospice Association of America;
National Hospice and Palliative Care
Organization
Do you have a loved one who
would benefit from our hospice
services? Call (818) 409-8011. We
will gladly answer your questions.
Hospice
care
Edmund Lew, MD
TRANSITIONING CARE
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