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ONTARIO 💵⚕️ Ontario Expanding Access to Palliative Care in Ottawa

Saturday, 04 May 2024 02:20.PM

- Nearly $3 million will add 10 new hospice beds in the region -

The Ontario government is investing $2.75 million over two years to increase access to comfortable and dignified end-of-life care close to home for families in the Ottawa region. This investment will add eight new hospice beds at Hospice Care Ottawa’s La Maison de l’Est, and two new pediatric hospice beds at Roger Neilson Children’s Hospice located at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO).

“Our government is ensuring people, at every stage of life, have access to the care they need in their community, close to their loved ones,” said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “Expanding access to end-of-life care services in the Ottawa region is another step our government is taking to deliver high quality, dignified care for patients and their loved ones with additional choices about where they spend their final days with the specialized support they need.”

The eight new beds at La Maison de l’Est will be located within the Cité Parkway Retirement Residence to make it more convenient for families to access end-of-life care in a familiar setting. La Maison de l’Est is building partnerships within the Francophone community to connect families to culturally appropriate palliative care services. This includes recruiting bilingual Francophone health care providers and Francophone volunteers to help deliver services in French, and creating a Francophone hospice palliative care hub that ensures services reflect the Francophone culture.

The two new pediatric hospice beds at Roger Neilson Children’s Hospice bring the total number of beds at this hospice to 10. Roger Neilson Children’s Hospice offers families comprehensive palliative care for children and youth living with progressive life-limiting illnesses. Services include:
• Residential care, including pediatric end-of-life nursing and personal support
• Respite and symptom management
• Recreation therapy
• Volunteer visiting home hospice services
• Memory and legacy making
• Grief and bereavement support for parents, caregivers, siblings and grandparents.

Through Your Health, Ontario is making it easier and faster for people of all ages to connect to the care they need, where and when they need it. This includes investing up to $147.4 million over three years to expand palliative care services across the province to ensure Ontarians have a choice about where they spend their final days.

"This facility represents much more than just a physical space. It embodies our commitment to providing compassionate end-of-life care in our mother tongue. For years, the Franco-Ontarian community has been advocating for this crucial resource. Its opening marks an important milestone in the continuum of services to our community. End-of-life care in your mother tongue is important because it allows for clearer communication between patients, families, and healthcare providers, maintaining dignity, and fostering a deeper sense of understanding and support."
- Benoit Hubert, Chair of the Board of Directors, Hospice Care Ottawa

Quick Facts

• Through the 2024 Budget, Building a Better Ontario, the government continues to expand palliative care services in local communities by adding up to 84 new adult beds and 12 pediatric beds, bringing the total to over 750 planned beds.
• With the addition of 10 new hospice beds, a total of 51 beds are now available in the Ottawa region.
• The Ontario government is investing $2.18 million over two years to add eight new hospice beds at La Maison de l’Est as part of the plan to expand access to hospice care across the province.
• The Ontario government is investing $567,000 over two years to add two new pediatric hospice beds at Roger Neilson Children’s Hospice as part of the 2024 Budget.
• Ontario Palliative Care Network works alongside hospices, Ontario Health Teams and long-term care homes to ensure providers have access to standardized models of care, clinical expertise, and training to deliver equitable and compassionate palliative care supports.
• Palliative care, which includes end-of-life care, can begin as early as the diagnosis of a serious illness and focuses on improving the quality of each individual’s life, provides integrated and holistic care for individuals, their families and caregivers and ensures that they have access to the supports they need when facing illness, death, grief, and/or bereavement.

SOURCE: Ontario Ministry of Health

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