Dr. Balfour Mount, widely recognized as the father of palliative care, passed away last Thursday in the palliative care unit that bears his name at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal.
Dr. Mount was born in Ottawa. He studied medicine at Queen’s University in Ontario, then specialized in urology at McGill University in Montreal and in surgical oncology at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in the United States.
Throughout his career, he was interested in the distress experienced by terminally ill patients. He advocated an approach that went beyond curative care, emphasizing psychological and spiritual needs.
In the 1970s, Dr. Mount traveled to the United Kingdom to learn more about end-of-life care, notably from Dr. Cicely Saunders, who created the hospice movement, which is in some ways the basis of the palliative care we know today.
Upon his return in 1975, Dr. Mount founded the world’s first comprehensive palliative care unit at the Royal Victoria Hospital of the McGill University Health Centre.
The following year, he established the McGill University Biennial International Congress on Terminal Care, which he chaired until 2004.
He continued to be closely involved with McGill University in the 1990s, notably by becoming the Eric M. Flanders Chair in Palliative Medicine and then the founding director of McGill’s Holistic Care Program.
Today, his legacy in the field of palliative care is undeniable. According to the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame, in 2015, 67 per cent of acute care hospitals with more than 50 beds in North America had palliative care teams.
In a press release, the citizen network Living with Dignity praised the man it describes as a pioneer in palliative care in Canada and internationally. Dr. Patrick Vinay, who worked alongside him over the years, writes a few words about him.
“He understood that the bond created between the patient and the caregiver must be maintained faithfully, even when recovery is no longer possible. He sought to provide comfort, to share solace, to accompany the vulnerable person so that they could make the most of the precious moments of life they had left, together with their loved ones. Dr. Mount had just invented a new discipline, palliative care, taking Cicely Saunders’ founding vision even further,” commented Dr. Vinay.
The director of the palliative care department at McGill University, Dr. Justin Sanders, published a written statement on the university’s website. “I am deeply inspired by all that Bal (Balfour’s nickname among his loved ones) did to transform healthcare in ways he certainly never envisioned or imagined. He did so with kindness, compassion, and considerable strength,” wrote Dr. Sanders.
“I believe that the best way to honor the extraordinary life of a visionary like Dr. Mount is to find the visionary within ourselves. In 50 years, I would like palliative care at McGill to be recognized not only for the contributions of its founder, but also for our own contributions to this essential work.”
During his lifetime, Dr. Mount received numerous awards and distinctions for his contributions to medicine. He was named an Officer of the Order of Canada and the Order of Quebec. He also received an award from the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine for his lifetime achievements. He was also awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
Three organizations have also created awards in his honour: the American Journal of Hospice Care, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association.
More recently, in 2020, Canada Post paid tribute to six Canadian doctors and researchers by featuring them on a new series of stamps, one of which was dedicated to Dr. Mount.
In addition, his memoirs were published in 2021 under the title “Ten Thousand Crossroads: The Path as I Remember It.”
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
