One of Canada’s pioneers of palliative care  has himself succumbed to cancer.

Doctor Larry Librach  died of pancreatic cancer last Thursday.

He  was the co-founder of the Temmy Latner  Centre for Palliative Care at Mount Sinai  Hospital and was also director of the University of Toronto’s Joint Centre for Bioethics.

His colleagues say Librach’s  lasting legacy will be improved end-of-life care, not just in Toronto, but across the country.

Librach  recently launched a new training program to deal with  terminally ill  patients wanting help to end their lives with dignity.

He stressed  the importance of preparing an advance directive, to detail the type of treatment a person wants at the end of their life. 

Doctor Larry Librach fulfilled the wish  that many  other terminally ill Canadians had asked of him over the past three decades: he died at home.

He was 67.