Newmarket hospice will provide care for terminally ill in York Region
Newmarket facility named after philanthropist Margaret Bahen

Yorkregion.com
Nov. 18, 2016
By Lisa Queen

Without residential hospice beds, terminally ill patients are forced to choose between dying in hospital or at home.

While people want to die in the comfort of their home surrounded by loved ones, they often choose spending their final days in hospital for fear of being a burden on their families.

That is why a new regional residential hospice being built in Newmarket is so crucial, says Dr. Cindy So, the regional clinical lead of palliative care for the Central Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) palliative care network.

“Palliative care focuses on quality of life and ensuring that patients are provided with comfort, with quality care and with dignity at the end of life,” she said.

“Currently, in York Region we only have three residential hospice beds and while our friends at (Richmond Hill’s) Hill House Hospice are doing incredible work, the demand for palliative care and hospice care continues to grow.”

While there are some great palliative community supports available, they are often not enough, said So, a palliative care doctor at Southlake Regional Health Centre.

“I see time and time again that patients and families in desperation come to the emergency room and, sadly, they die on a stretcher in the ER. That is simply not appropriate nor is it dignified,” she said.

“To me, hospice represents the best of both worlds. It provides a warm, familiar, homelike environment while still providing the 24-hour professional care. The interprofessional team are not only experts in pain and symptom management, but they work together to meet the emotional, the spiritual and the psychological needs of patients and families when they truly are most vulnerable.”

An official groundbreaking was held Nov. 18 for the centre, already under construction on Grace St. beside the hospital and its long-term care home.

The centre, which will serve the whole region, will be named the Margaret Bahen Hospice for York Region in recognition of one of Southlake’s most generous supporters, foundation president Neila Poscente said.

Bahen and her family have supported many programs at Southlake, including the regional cancer program’s Bahen Chant Radiation Treatment Centre and the John and Margaret Bahen Rehabilitation Program.

The Bahen family and the community have raised $4 million toward the hospice, a $12 million project, which will be 100 per cent funded through foundation’s “love lives here” campaign.

It is exciting to see the hospice, which has been in the works since 2010, taking shape for its completion in late 2017, Southlake president Dr. Dave Williams said.

“Our community has rallied together to help us build this residential hospice,” he said.

“Through the philanthropy we have from our remarkable community, we will be able to provide an environment where we can provide comprehensive end-of-life care with compassion, with empathy, with dignity and with respect.”

The hospice represents residents’ desire for quality and compassionate health care close to home, said Brenda Urbanksi, a board member of the Central LHIN, which funds and plans local health care.

For more information or to make a donation, visit southlakefoundation.ca.