Hospice Vaughan gets big boost from Saint Elizabeth

YorkRegion.com
Oct. 9, 2015

Hospice Vaughan’s plan to build a residential end-of-life care facility has been given a big boost from a national health-care organization.

The local agency has formed a partnership with Saint Elizabeth Community Enterprise that will see the latter provide $300,000 over two years to help with plans for a new 10-bed residential hospice and Centre For Excellence in palliative care.

“Saint Elizabeth has been helping Canadian families for more than 100 years and brings significant expertise in end-of-life- care,” Hospice Vaughan president Mary Grace Tatangelo said in a news release. “We are thrilled to be teaming up to meet the growing need for palliative care in our local community.”

The facility, slated to open in 2018, would provide specialized care for pain and symptom management along with bereavement, psychosocial and spiritual counselling to patients and their families in a home-like setting.

It is expected to serve about 200 patients annually.

The price tag for construction alone of the residential hospice has been pegged at about $10 million.

As part of the partnership agreement, Saint Elizabeth served as “vision sponsor” for Hospice Vaughan’s annual Giving Thanks gala held Friday, Oct. 2.