The lecture hall named after Prof. Adam Gruca at Baby Jesus Clinical Hospital was filled almost to the last seat. There were many special guests at the opening, including representatives of the Ministry of Health and the Medical University of Warsaw authorities, as well as students.
How the idea was born
Prof. Zbigniew Gaciong, Rector of the Medical University of Warsaw, and Prof. Rafał Krenke, recalled how the idea of creating the Palliative Medicine Clinic was born:
“If you want to do something, it doesn’t start with a name, or a building, or even money. We have to start with people,” said the Rector of the Medical University of Warsaw.
“So, Prof. Rafał Krenke came to me and said that there was a man – Habilitated Doctor Tomasz Dzierżanowski, a specialist in palliative medicine, but also a dedicated doctor and scientist who has the idea of creating a Palliative Medicine Clinic. That’s how it all started.”
One clinic – many benefits
The Rector emphasized that the establishment of the Palliative Medicine Clinic was, of course, very important for the university but, above all, extremely important for patients who need such care, not only from Warsaw, but from the entire region.Prof. Rafał Krenke, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, noted:
“Its establishment is extremely important from an educational point of view. We all like to achieve therapeutic success. However, it is also important that doctors, even without seeing the prospect of spectacular success, provide patients with top-quality palliative care.”
Prof. Urszula Demkow, Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Health, emphasized the importance of palliative medicine:
“When regenerative medicine becomes helpless, there should be someone with the patient who will help them get to the other side without suffering.”
Romuald Kamiński, Bishop of the Warsaw-Prague Diocese, drew attention to the spiritual aspects, emphasizing that palliative care restores hope to the sick.
Lecture: “What is palliative care?”.
After a series of short speeches and congratulations, the lecture was delivered by Dr. Aleksandra Ciałkowska-Rysz. She pointed out that palliative medicine is not only about supporting and accompanying dying people:
“It is also the prevention and relief of suffering, for example the assessment and treatment of pain or other somatic, psychological and spiritual symptoms.”
Dr. Ciałkowska-Rysz also cited data showing that in Poland, and especially in the Masovian Province, there is a lack of palliative care units – the greater satisfaction is that this clinic has been established.
“About 100,000 patients benefit from palliative care every year. Is this many or few? Certainly not enough for the needs,” said the speaker.
The clinic has actually been operating for 3 months.
Habilitated Doctor Tomasz Dzierżanowski showed photos of the clinic taken on December 1, 2023.
“We actually missed everything. But slowly we started collecting beds and other equipment and furniture. We admitted our first two patients on December 11. A lot has changed since then. Now we have 19 beds in the clinic, of which 17 are occupied. During the first three months, even though we operated with only half of the beds, we admitted almost 130 people. Most of them were oncological patients. 83% of those patients who had already completed hospitalization died. And half lived for 6 days or less,” said Dr. Dzierżanowski.
The Head of the Clinic emphasized that he accepts patients in the most serious condition. Of course, this puts a lot of mental strain on the staff. However, Dr. Dzierżanowski has no worries thanks to the university has managed to build a great team of nurses and caregivers.
What does the new clinic need?
“The most important thing for us today is accreditation so that we can start educating specialists – not only in our region, but also in Poland. I also dream that new talents, palliative medicine specialists, will emerge here, because this is the future of palliative medicine. This wonderful field of medicine is not only for people who are knowledgeable and not afraid of dealing with serious diseases, but also for those who want to be internists, neurologists and psychiatrists at the same time. This is the nature of this specialization. This is a field of medicine for people who have a deep need to realize their humanity in this way. These are always people who are not indifferent to the suffering of other people. They get great satisfaction from it,” said Habilitated Doctor Tomasz Dzierżanowski.
Agnieszka Gertner Polak, an outstanding soprano, and Bogdan Hołownia, a famous jazz pianist, gave a performance at the end of the inauguration. After the ceremony, the guests visited the newly established clinic.
