Ontario is funding two new beds at the Residential Hospice of Grey Bruce, to help up to 34 more patients and their families receive local high-quality palliative and end-of-life care services each year.
John Fraser, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, was in Owen Sound today to make the announcement.
The hospice, which opened in May 2013, has helped over 300 patients to date while supporting families in Grey Bruce and the broader region. When construction is complete in spring 2017, the hospice will have a total of eight beds, ensuring high-quality hospice palliative care remains in the community for generations.
Palliative and end-of-life care provides crucial supports to help relieve patients' suffering, improves their quality of living and dying, and supports friends and families through difficult times.
Investing in palliative care is part of the government's plan to build a better Ontario through its Patients First: Action Plan for Health Care, which provides patients with faster access to the right care; better home and community care; the information they need to live healthy; and a health care system that is sustainable for generations to come. It is also part of Ontario's Patients First: Road map to Strengthen Home and Community Care, which is the government's plan to improve and expand home and community care over the next three years.
QUOTES
"Hospices in Ontario do an excellent job of providing high quality and compassionate care in our communities. This new funding will support the critical role that the Residential Hospice of Grey Bruce plays in this community, and is an important part of our government's commitment to expand hospice palliative care across the province so that even more people can benefit from their supports." — Dr. Eric Hoskins, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care
"Facilities with hospice care are special places that provide compassionate care to patients and families at a challenging time in their lives. They are a critical part of Ontario's plan to ensure access to high quality hospice palliative care." — John Fraser, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care
"It has been a privilege to provide our expert care to those who have come to us when we are needed. Today's announcement means that when Chapman House is complete, we will be able to reach even more loved ones from Grey and Bruce who need our service." — Scott Lovell, Executive Director, Residential Hospice of Grey Bruce
"We thank the Ontario government for these additional investments in hospice palliative care in Grey Bruce. Putting people with life-limiting illnesses and their families at the centre of hospice palliative care is one of the goals of our Integrated Health Service Plan 2016-2019, and these additional funds will help ensure we deliver on this commitment." – Jeff Low, Board Chair, South West LHIN
QUICK FACTS
The province is contributing $210,000 to support the new beds, which brings the government's annual investment in the hospice to $840,000.
Ontario is investing an additional $75 million in hospice and palliative care over the next three years to support 20 additional hospices across the province. This additional spending is on top of the $80 million already invested in hospice and palliative care, bringing the total investment to $155 million from April 2016 to April 2019.
Ontario recently released the Palliative and End-of-Life Care Provincial Round table Report, which compiled feedback from province-wide consultations led by John Fraser, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. The report will help Ontario develop a comprehensive strategy on palliative and end-of-life care, which will focus on supporting families and caregivers, and ensuring access to co-ordinated quality care where patients want it.
Ontario recently launched the Ontario Palliative Care Network, a partnership among Cancer Care Ontario, Ontario's Local Health Integration Networks, Health Quality Ontario and other partners, including members from diverse care settings and caregivers, clinical representatives and associations.
source: media release, Residential Hospice of Grey Bruce