New tool lets patients call the shots at end of their lives[Star Tribune, March 10, 2010] It's about breaking the silence around death and giving patients what they want at the end of their life, say Minnesota supporters of a new document called Provider Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST).
Dr. Donald Grossbach, director of hospice care for Allina Hospitals & Clinics, discusses the importance of allowing patients to make informed decisions about their medical care. This year, Allina plans to use specially trained staff to talk to at least 4,000 patients about end-of-life planning, including POLSTs for 1,500 patients in hospice and long-term care. Read the full story on startribune.com... 'Non-drugs' ease hospital pain[United Press International, March 9, 2010] Non-traditional techniques are effective in reducing pain in hospitalized patients, United States researchers say in a first-of-a-kind study.
Dr. Gregory Plotnikoff, study author and medical director of the Penny George Institute for Health and Healing at Abbott Northwestern Hospital, noted that non-drug treatments (such as acupuncture, acupressure, massage therapy, healing touch, music therapy, aromatherapy and reflexology) provided pain relief without any of the adverse effects of opioid medications. Read the full story on upi.com... Bill George: Time to transform state's health care[Star Tribune, March 6, 2010] In this commentary, the former chairman and CEO of Medtronic, lists Allina Hospitals & Clinics as a health care system that has helped put Minnesota in a unique position “to create the optimal health care system that serves all Minnesotans by shifting from disease care to wellness and prevention and integrated care for the sick.” Read the full story on startribune.com... Post-embryonic stem cell treatments currently available[Minnesota Christian Chronicle, March 2010] While the debate about the ethics of destroying an embryo to obtain stem cells for research rages on in political and media circles, many people like Dennis Brown of Edina, Minnesota, are receiving treatment using post-embryonic stem cells. In the case of Brown, he was treated with stem cells taken from his own blood.
Dr. Thomas Flynn, Brown's oncologist, explains the current, newer process for autologous stem cell transplants. Flynn sees patients at the Minnesota Oncology clinic in the Virginia Piper Building at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. Read the full story on mcchronicle.com... |
