Ontario Investing $125,000 in Hospice Services
April 10, 2024NORTH BAY – As part of Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care, Vic Fedeli, MPP for Nipissing announced that the Ontario government is providing the Near North Palliative Care Network and Nipissing Serenity Hospice each with $12,500 to reflect three months of service for 2023-24, annualizing to $50,000 in the 2024-25 fiscal year, to support grief and bereavement services.
“Ensuring our local citizens have choices in end-of-life care is an important part of our government’s strategy to build a health care system that connects people to the care they need,” said MPP Vic Fedeli. “Today’s funding will support grief and bereavement services that will help families and caregivers who are grieving the loss of a loved one.”
“Grief is both a universal experience and a potent and personal one. Loss of a loved one is a major life event and having the right support at the right time can help people continue to function well through a very difficult time. This funding will support the ongoing work of hospices to meet the inevitably increasing demand and need for this support.” – Gil Pharand, Executive Director, Nipissing Serenity Hospice.
“On behalf of Near North Palliative Care, I would like to extend our gratitude to MPP Vic Fedeli, Hon. Sylvia Jones and Ontario Health for the decisive one-time funding of $12,500 for Q4 2023-24 and $50,000.00 for the fiscal year of 2024-25, to support Bereavement Services to NNPCN clients. We hope that this one-time funding becomes a sustainable annual raise in our Agreements with OH, in face of the soaring demand for bereavement services in our community. This one-time funding comes right in time and is much appreciated to keep our community supported with Visiting Hospice Bereavement services.” – Monica Do Coutto Monni, Executive Director of the Near North Palliative Care Network.
This funding is part of Ontario’s $147.4 million Palliative Care 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.
QUICK FACTS
- 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.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES