10-bed hospice planned in Vaughan

Yorkregion.com
July 30, 2015
By Adam Martin-Robbins

Vaughan residents who are terminally ill and need end-of-life care, but don’t want to spend their final days in a hospital, could have an alternative closer to home in just a few years.

Hospice Vaughan is moving ahead with plans to build a 10-bed residential hospice, which 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.

“Our health care system is experiencing a crisis with the delivery of hospice and palliative care services. Not only is there a complete lack of hospice palliative beds in Vaughan, but this need will only escalate given the growth and aging population of our community,” said Dr.Vincent Maida, a palliative medicine specialist and Hospice Vaughan board member.

The goal is to have the facility up and running by 2018. Once completed, it is projected to serve more than 200 patients annually, which would mean an estimated savings of more than $2 million per year for the ministry of health, according to hospice officials.

But a facility of this type comes with a sizeable price tag - construction costs alone are pegged at about $10 million.

Thus, exactly when the doors of the residential hospice will open depends, in part, on the response to Hospice Vaughan’s community fundraising campaign.

The organization is currently in the process of assessing potential sites and consulting with key stakeholders and partners.

Additional partners are also being sought to help make the project a reality.

Hospice Vaughan has provided a wide range of services to the community during the past 20 years including grief and bereavement counselling programs and visiting volunteer outreach support.

The new residential facility will enable the organization to expand the range of services it offers.

Running by 2018

“The future Hospice Vaughan will be a centre of excellence for the delivery of hospice and palliative patient care, inter-professional education and inter-professional research with enhanced counselling services and community outreach and a day hospice program,” Mary Grace Tatangelo, board president, said.

A steering committee has been established to provide guidance and help launch the capital fundraising campaign.

Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua serves as honorary chairperson of the committee.

“For 20 years, Hospice Vaughan has been committed to providing important services to people facing a life-ending illness and their loved ones,” he said in a news release. “This new residential hospice will improve access to palliative care in our community as well as help ease the burden for many families in their time of need.”