Orillia ’waiting and ready’ for residential hospice

Categories: Care and Featured.

Funding for local hospice beds is “a very good start” in terms of meeting the needs in Orillia, according to Kelly Hubbard.

The chair of the Simcoe County Hospice Alliance welcomed the news that the County of Simcoe will be providing $1.5 million in capital funding over three years to create new hospice beds in the county, including five in Orillia.

“This is really big for them,” Hubbard said, noting hospices have not received much government support over the years.

That is changing. Provincial funding is becoming available for 200 beds across Ontario. One of the requirements is for hospice organizations to prove they can be up and running by March 2019.

Mariposa House Hospice is “actively working to secure a piece of land” in Orillia, said its co-chair, Erika Catford. She said an update on those efforts will be coming soon.

“The community is waiting and ready for this,” Catford said, adding Mariposa House has been working with various levels of government to secure assistance.

The plan is to open a five-bed residential hospice in Orillia.

“That is the minimum that we need and it will put us on par with other communities,” Catford said, adding Huntsville has a five-bed hospice facility. “If they can fill five beds, I am positive that Orillia can fill five beds. The need is there.”

She does expect the demand for hospice to increase as more people become aware of that form of end-of-life care. It is still somewhat of a mystery to many. Those who are familiar with hospice services “see how good the care is,” Catford said. Read more…

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