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Orillia 'waiting and ready' for residential hospice

More funding becoming available for hospice services across province
2018-05-07 Hikefor Hospice Orillia1.jpg
Orillia's Hike for Hospice took place May 6. More funding opportunities are becoming available for residential hospices across Ontario. Mehreen Shahid/OrilliaMatters

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.

“It is an amazing service to the community.”

Local hospice organizations have been spreading the word over the years. One way of doing so is the annual Hike for Hospice, which took place May 6.

Opening a residential hospice in Orillia will also lead to more understanding of the services, Catford said.

Getting to this point has taken “a huge amount of community commitment,” Hubbard said.

“There’s still a huge amount of money to raise in (Orillia),” she said. “There’s still quite a steep capital funding campaign needed.”

Catford said information about the capital campaign will also be shared shortly.


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Nathan Taylor

About the Author: Nathan Taylor

Nathan Taylor is the desk editor for Village Media's central Ontario news desk in Simcoe County and Newmarket.
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