Hospice palliative care is needed more than ever.

With Niagara’s aging population, more people are living longer with complex conditions such as COPD, ALS, complex heart disease and multiple cancers. The need for hospice palliative care is greater than ever and continues to rise.   Niagara simply does not have enough hospice beds or community palliative care services to ensure people who are living with a life-limiting illness and their families receive the care they need and deserve.

Our region is far below provincial standards, and referrals for the existing 10 beds in St. Catharines continue to increase. The Auditor General of Ontario recommends that Niagara have 31 to 45 hospice beds.

Every year, close to 500 people are referred to our hospice residence for end-of-life care. Sadly, we are only able to admit about half of everyone referred because we do not have enough capacity to meet the growing need. As a result, far too many people have to make crisis trips to the emergency room or they are spending their last hours and days in hospital beds or hospital hallways.

 

Expanding Hospice Care in Niagara

Hospice Niagara has embarked on an ambitious $18M expansion plan to add 20 new hospice suites
and two new Hospice Palliative Care Centres of Excellence in Niagara by the end of 2024.

Each of the hospices will provide a home-like setting with 10 private suites for people and their families to spend quality time during the final days and weeks of life.

The new hospices will be located alongside long-term care facilities – Foyer Richelieu in Welland and Gilmore Lodge in Fort Erie.

This campaign will need the collective support of our community to ensure people and families in Niagara receive the care they need – everyone, everywhere and every time. Together, we can ensure that hospice palliative care is available free of cost, when people need it most, for generations to come.

 

The need is clear. And the time is NOW.