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Vital Signs

Facts & Figures - Life-and-death matter

1425
Year the word "palliative" (meaning "that relieves the symptoms of a disease or condition without dealing with the underlying cause") was first used, according to the Oxford English Dictionary

1967
Year of the founding, by Dr. Cicely Saunders, an English physician and nurse, of the world's first hospice

967
Year the phrase "palliative care" (meaning "care for the terminally ill and their families") was first used, according to the Oxford English Dictionary

1980
Year Dame Cicely Saunders was knighted by the British Empire

2003
Year Dr. Ira Byock was named director of palliative care at DHMC

9,813
Number of deaths in New Hampshire in 2001

193
Number of new patients receiving palliative care at DHMC in 2002

602
Number of new patients receiving palliative care at DHMC in 2006

30%
Percentage of U.S. hospitals with a palliative-care program in 2006


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