Balfour Mount
Born (1939-04-14) April 14, 1939 (age 84)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Known forfather of palliative care in North America
AwardsOrder of Canada
National Order of Quebec

Balfour M. Mount, OC OQ (born 14 April 1939) is a Canadian physician, surgeon, and academic. He is considered the father of palliative care in North America.[1]

Born in Ottawa, Ontario,[2] he received his medical degree from Queen's University in 1963 and studied surgery and urology at McGill University.[3] In January 1973, Dr. Mount, an urologic-cancer surgeon, was influenced by a discussion group of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross' book On Death and Dying to lead a study of the conditions at Montreal's Royal Victoria Hospital. After visiting Cicely Saunders' St. Christopher's Hospice, he helped to create a similar ward within the Royal Victoria Hospital in 1974[4] and coined the term "palliative care".[2] He became the founding Director of the Royal Victoria Hospital Palliative Care Service, the Palliative Care McGill in 1990 and the McGill Programs in Integrated Whole Person Care in 1999. Dr. Mount is the Eric M. Flanders Emeritus Professor of Palliative Care at McGill University.[5]

Honours

In 1985, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada in recognition for having "founded the first Palliative Care Service at Montreal's Royal Victoria Hospital". In 2003, he was promoted to Officer in recognition of being "the father of palliative care in North America".[1] In 1988, he was made an Officer of the National Order of Quebec.[6] He has been awarded honorary degrees from the University of Calgary,[7] Queen's University,[8] and Dalhousie University.[9] In 2018 he was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.

References

  1. ^ a b Order of Canada citation
  2. ^ a b Andrew Duffy. "A Moral Force: The Story of Dr. Balfour Mount". Ottawa Citizen. Archived from the original on 15 December 2006. Retrieved January 1, 2007.
  3. ^ "McGill honours and is honoured". McGill University. Retrieved January 1, 2007.
  4. ^ "Balfour Mount Oral History". Archived from the original on 2021-06-29.
  5. ^ "About Dr. Balfour M. Mount". Archived from the original on October 1, 2006. Retrieved January 1, 2007.
  6. ^ "National Order of Quebec citation" (in French). Archived from the original on 2012-09-05.
  7. ^ University of Calgary citation Archived 2007-05-18 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Queen's University Honorary Degree Recipients Archived 2008-04-17 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Dalhousie University - Honorary Degree Recipients, 1986-2004 Archived 2007-05-22 at the Wayback Machine
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