Balfour M. Mount, (born 14 April 1939) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

physician, surgeon, and academic. He is considered the father of

palliative care Palliative care (derived from the Latin root , or 'to cloak') is an interdisciplinary medical caregiving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Wit ...

in North America. Born in

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, he received his medical degree from Queen's University in 1963 and studied surgery and urology at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...

. 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 Dame Cicely Mary Strode Saunders (22 June 1918 – 14 July 2005) was an English nurse, social worker, physician and writer. She is noted for her work in terminal care research and her role in the birth of the hospice movement, emphasising the i ...

' St. Christopher's Hospice, he helped to create a similar ward within the Royal Victoria Hospital in 1974 and coined the term "

". 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

Honours

In 1985, he was made a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

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". In 1988, he was made an Officer of the

National Order of Quebec The National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as ''l'Ordre national du Québec'', and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is an order of merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Governo ...

. He has been awarded honorary degrees from the

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

, Queen's University, and Dalhousie University.Dalhousie University - Honorary Degree Recipients, 1986-2004
In 2018 he was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mount, Balfour 1939 births Living people Canadian surgeons McGill University faculty Officers of the National Order of Quebec Officers of the Order of Canada People from Ottawa Queen's University at Kingston alumni Palliative care