Caritas Foundation needs to raise $1.25 million to help establish this Centre of Excellence.

Each year, Covenant Health is privileged to walk with patients and families on the most difficult journey as they face the realities of a terminal illness or losing a loved one to illness. Providing quality care at end of life is at the heart of our mission to serve with compassion, uphold the sacredness of life in all stages, and care for the whole person—body, mind and soul.

The number of Albertans who will require these services is expected to increase by 33% by the 2020. In response to this growing need, Covenant Health is working to enhance its leadership role through a comprehensive Palliative Care and End of Life Strategy.

This includes establishing a centre of excellence located at Grey Nuns Community Hospital to bring experts together to focus on research, programs, planning and education. Through this closely linked network of people, Covenant Health will improve efforts to deliver palliative and end of life care across Alberta.

Your support will ensure that all patients and families—no matter where they live in Alberta—have access to the support and holistic care they need to face the challenges of living with life-threatening illnesses and the comfort measures they need at the end of life.

Covenant Health has been a leader in palliative care since opening its first beds at the Edmonton General Hospital in 1982. Today, Covenant Health operates 72 hospice and palliative care beds—with 10 more recently approved in Medicine Hat—and offers palliative care services at several Covenant Health facilities across the province.

Caritas Foundation needs to raise $500,000 to help Covenant Health’s Institute for Reconstructive Sciences in Medicine (iRSM) located at Misericordia Community Hospital is a highly specialized research and clinical centre that provides care to people who have lost parts of the head and/or neck to cancer, injury or birth defects. Since its inception in 1993, iRSM has been a leader in research, innovation and clinical care, and is sought out for its unique expertise by institutions worldwide.

iRSM (Misericordia site) has partnered with the University of Alberta’s Department of Mechanical Engineering iRSM and developed a research program focused on sharing knowledge and improving understanding of implantable devices used for head and neck reconstruction. These devises are used to secure facial and dental prosthetics allowing a patient to regain the ability to eat, speak and swallow. The implants also improve appearance, enhancing the quality of life for the patient.

Funds raised through the Caritas Foundation this year will be directed to iRSM’s endowment fund for the establishment of the Murray E. Mickleborough Chair in Interfacial Biomechanics in an effort to:

• • better understand the effects of mechanical parameters on the biologic response of hard and soft tissue
• • develop new techniques and new biomaterial applications that can promote bone growth and improve the osseointegration between implants and bone
• • develop new and improved implantable devices, and
• • provide specialized training and developmental courses in biomechanics for head and neck reconstructive personnel

Caritas Foundation established the iRSM endowment fund 10 years ago to promote exploration in reconstructive sciences that will enhance biomedical engineering research and education to improve care and rehabilitation for all Albertans.