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Timmins And District Hospital to cut ribbon on new hospice centre today

Dignitaries, hospital staff, patients and other stakeholders will gather to celebrate the opening of the facility on the second floor of the hospital
TimminsToday Staff
ribbon cutting stock

NEWS RELEASE

TIMMINS AND DISTRICT HOSPITAL

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TIMMINS, ON – On Mar. 24 at 12 p.m., the Timmins and District Hospital (TADH) in collaboration with the Timmins Hospice Palliative Care Resource Team will be having a Grand Opening of the Timmins Hospice Centre. Presentations in the Boardroom will be followed by a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Timmins Hospice Centre on the second floor of the hospital.

In October 2016, the North East LHIN (NELHIN) Board Director, Denis Bérubé, announced that Timmins and District Hospital (TADH) will receive $420,000 for four hospice beds so that residents can live their remaining days in dignity and comfort, surrounded by the people who love them. The new funding helps to ensure high-quality hospice palliative care remains in the community for future generations. With the support of the NELHIN renovations, décor updates and equipment purchases were initiated in early December. The Timmins Hospice Centre admitted their first patients the week of Feb. 27, 2017.

Joan Ludwig, TADH Chief Nursing Officer and Chair of the Timmins Hospice Palliative Care Community Resource Team, explained that the Timmins Hospice Centre is an “innovative model which integrates the strengths and expertise of palliative care in the community and the Hospital. This collaborative model, builds on an existing hospital infrastructure to support the physical space and a component of the operations of the Hospice Centre. We were very fortunate that the hospital was able to provide a wing on the second floor to develop this peaceful setting for patients and their families.”

Christine Leclair, Senior Officer, Cochrane Sub-Region, North East Local Health Integration Network (NELHIN), shares that the Timmins Hospice Centre fits with the NELHIN palliative care vision because

“These beds are a testament to the collaborative strengths of community, primary care providers and hospital leaders working together, along with many volunteers, to ensure that quality care is available. That’s exactly what the North East Local Health Integration Network wants to see happen to improve access to care, at the time and the place it is needed.”

"When care at home is not an option, the hospice will provide a peaceful and supportive environment for end-of-life care for patients and their families.” said Dr. Patrick Critchley, Physician Lead of the Timmins Hospice Centre. “The hospice is an essential component of a health care system dedicated to providing excellence in palliative care. We are very fortunate to have the hospice in Timmins."

“TDH‘s new hospice unit is a welcoming space to patients and their families. During the difficult time of palliating a loved one, family members now have a quiet, comfortable home like setting. Families from near or far can now unite in this peaceful setting to support each other as well as be present for their loved one. I look forward to helping support patients and their families in this hospice.“ says Dr. Lynne Schwertfeger, Timmins Hospice Centre physicians

Lia Fontana, Manager of Integrated Medical Program/Social Work/Discharge Planning, shares her gratitude on how the vision of making the Hospice Centre within the Hospital, came to life.

“A small working group of the Timmins Palliative Care Resource team had a vision. A vision of a peaceful, homelike environment, for end of life patients, to enjoy with their families. With the help of a great team of contractors and sub-contractors, that vision became a reality. One wing of the hospital was transformed into a quiet, calm, serene space where patients receive care and support surrounded by family, friends and dedicated caring professionals. “

The Timmins and District Hospital (TADH) is a level C, fully accredited community, referral and teaching hospital serving the residents of the City of Timmins and Cochrane District as well as the adjoining areas of the Temiskaming, Sudbury and Algoma districts. The hospital offers a full range of medical, surgical, critical care, maternity, newborn, pediatric, long-term care and mental health services as well extensive health education and district services.

(The Timmins Palliative Care Resource Team is a committee of over 10 community partners, including such organizations as the Timmins Family Health Team, CCAC, Red Cross, Bayshore Home Health, VON and Horizon’s Palliative Care Inc. who meet regularly to coordinate and work on developing quality programming for palliative care in the community and hospital settings.)

"Facilities with hospice care are special places that provide compassionate care to patients and families at a challenging time in their lives. They are a critical part of Ontario's plan to ensure access to high quality hospice palliative care." says John Fraser, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care.

Facts:

  • Seniors in North East Ontario will climb to approximately 27 per cent of the population (151,000 people) in the next 10 years and need a broader range of palliative and end-of-life care options.

  • The NELHIN provides about $4 million each year for hospice palliative care across Northeastern Ontario which includes nursing funding through the North East Community Care Access Centre (NE CCAC), support to two hospices – in Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie, the palliative pain and symptom management consultation program, hospice visiting nurses delivered by eight agencies, and six education programs.

  • The North East LHIN supports standardized palliative care education across all care settings. Earlier this year, 20 people attended a LHIN-sponsored course in Timmins to enhance the knowledge of physicians, nurse practitioners, social workers and home care nurses to support patient choice in dying – in hospital, in a long-term care home, in a hospice, or at home.

  • The 2016 provincial budget announced an additional investment of $75M in hospice and palliative care over the next three years, for a total investment of $155 million over three years. This includes:

    • $155M to develop 200 more residential hospice beds, including in rural areas.

    • More support for residential hospices already funded.

    • Support for initiatives to promote advance care planning, so that families and health care providers understand patients’ wishes for end-of-life care. The North East LHIN held a ‘Death Café’ for this purpose earlier this year.

  • Ontario recently launched the Ontario Palliative Care Network, a partnership among Cancer Care Ontario, Ontario’s Local Health Integration Networks, Health Quality Ontario and other partners, including members from diverse care settings and caregivers, clinical representatives and associations.

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