Toronto Globe and Mail reporter Lisa Priest and photographer Moe Doiron spent two-and-a-half months embedded in a 20-bed critical care unit at a Toronto
Photo by quinn.anya via Flickr
hospital, following four patients and their families and chronicling life in an environment where, Priest writes, “death is a constant, almost routine event, claiming one in five patients who enter.”
Their assignment was to find out “How does one prepare for the end of life?” and explore the medical, ethical and economic challenges of that stage of life.
The result is a sprawling, intensive report on the state of end-of-life care in Canada, heavy on anecdotes. Priest’s centerpiece is subtitled “Spending 10 weeks with patients facing death“) but remains cognizant of big picture issues like cost and quality of life.
