Hospice honours founders

THE Chatsworth Regional Hospice Association recently held an event to honour its four founding fathers.

Twenty six years ago, Coomarasamy Nithianathan Pillay, Dr Poonati Krishna Naidoo, Rakooni Mannadiar and the late BA Naidoo realised the need for palliative care for terminally ill cancer patients residing in Chatsworth.

The commitment and the enthusiasm of the senior nurses of RK Khan Hospital and their willingness to provide home-based care in their own time supported the vision of the four prominent humanitarians.

Their interest was reinforced when an audit revealed that over 6 500 patients suffering from cancer were treated by the department of surgery over a five-year period.

This insight motivated the visionaries to pursue the objective of establishing a hospice in Chatsworth.

On January 26, 1991, the Chatsworth Regional Hospice Association was formally established.

It was resolved to provide palliative care service without a charge to all who qualified irrespective of race, gender, age and creed.

This service was offered from an annexe at RK Khan Hospital.

Premises became a necessity, and in January 1995, the hospice, located in Strelitzia Road, Silverglen, was officially opened.

We salute these four honourees for their vision.

CHATSWORTH REGIONAL HOSPICE

ASSOCIATION