Ontario Expanding and Investing in Palliative Care in Richmond Hill

(Tuesday, July 18, 2023, Richmond Hill, Ontario) As part of Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care, the Ontario government is expanding access to palliative care services in Richmond Hill.  This is part of Ontario’s $147.4 million investment over three years in communities across the province to connect more Ontarians to comfortable and dignified palliative care close to home and loved ones.

A portion of this funding will be used to connect people to more palliative and end-of-life services across Ontario including:

• Grief and bereavement support that help families and caregivers who are grieving the loss of a loved one.
• Advance care planning to help patients and families prepare for future health care decisions, and
• Perinatal palliative care programs that provide specialized grief, bereavement, and peer support that help parents prepare for the loss of their infant.

“When people approach the end of their life, they deserve to know that they can remain in their community, near loved ones,” said Hon. Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “Expanding access to end-of-life care in Ontario communities will provide patients and their families with additional choices, helping to ensure they stay close to home in a familiar setting, with the specialized care they need.”

In addition to expanding palliative care services across the province, this investment will provide existing residential hospice beds in Richmond Hill with over $420,600 in additional funding over the next two years for nursing, personal support, and other services delivered to patients at Hill House Hospice.  Hill House Hospice will receive a total of $525,300 for 2023-2024 fiscal year ($210,300 top-up, plus existing funding of $315,000) to support hospice operations.  This represents an approximate 67% increase in funding for the next two years.

The increased funding for residential hospice beds, including Hill House Hospice, will further strengthen our local healthcare infrastructure,” said Daisy Wai, MPP for Richmond Hill. “This investment aligns perfectly with our goal of connected and convenient care, empowering individuals to remain in their communities surrounded by loved ones. I commend the government for their dedication to improving end-of-life care, and I am proud to support these initiatives."

“Grateful to MPP Daisy Wai for the kind invitation to attend this great announcement that will support the members of the Richmond Hill community,” said Dawn Gallagher Murphy, MPP for Newmarket—Aurora and Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Health. “Supporting end-of-life care is a priority for our government. Ensuring Ontarians have a choice about where they spend their final days is an important part of ensuring access to health care throughout our entire lives.”

“Our government believes that every individual deserves the comfort and support of their loved ones and community throughout their life,” said Michael Parsa, MPP for Aurora - Oak Ridges - Richmond Hill.  “By expanding access to palliative care services in Richmond Hill and across Ontario, we are ensuring that patients and their families can stay close to home and receive the specialized care they need.”

“Hill House Hospice is extremely grateful to receive funding that will help us provide compassionate and quality end-of-life care to our community.  This investment highlights how our government truly values the positive impact that hospice palliative care has on the lives of families and how it supports a more cost-effective and integrated healthcare system for everyone.  This funding will help us meet the growing needs of our community and we are deeply appreciative,” said Michelle Hambly, Executive Director of Hill House Hospice.

Ontario is investing over $53.8 million over the next two years to increase funding by 45 per cent for all approved hospice beds in Ontario, plus an additional increase for hospice beds in small facilities.  The provincial investment also includes $10.9 million in multiyear funding to continue operations of 23 additional residential hospice beds through the 2023-24, 2024-25, and 2025-26 fiscal years.

With Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care, the province is making it easier for people and their families to connect to the care they need throughout their entire life, whether that’s by expanding access to services in their home or community or giving them the choice to book or take an appointment virtually, to ensure hospital and long-term beds are available when it is needed most.

QUICK FACTS

·       Expanding care options in the community is a key part of Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care, the plan to help Ontario families connect to the care they need, in ways that are more convenient for them.

·         Ontario is expanding end of life care services by adding 23 new hospice beds to the 509 beds already available across the province to connect Ontarians with end-of-life care.

·         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.