The hospice is modelled on Helen and Douglas House hospice in the UK, the world’s first children’s hospice. It will provide care for patients of 15 years and younger.
“We want to make this a place where children can find hope for living with their family and friends” said Masaaki Mukubo, superintendent of Yodogawa Christian Hospital.
The children’s hospice was set up on the second floor of a five-story annex recently reconstructed near the main hospital building. There are 12 private rooms, as well as rooms where the children can study and play. Six of the private rooms are designed for children receiving end of life care and their family members to stay at the hospice, while the other six rooms are for temporary stays by children who are being treated at home for intractable diseases but have stable conditions.
Sister Frances Dominica, who founded Helen and Douglas House in 1982, played a key role in establishing the hospice when she visited the Yodogawa Christian Hospital in October 2009. Sister Dominica, a friend of Empress Michiko of Japan, asked hospital officials about the possibility of creating a hospice for children.
Sister Dominica attended the opening ceremony on 1 November this year and said that she felt the children would enjoy the facilities that have been installed and hoped that more children’s hospices would be built around Japan. There are plans two further hospices in Kobe and Kanagawa Prefecture.
Leave a Reply