Burlington's Carpenter Hospice gets provincial funding boost

Carpenter Hospice will benefit from a provincial investment in palliative care services.

Ontario is providing $147.4 million over three years to communities across the province with the aim of connecting more Ontarians to comfortable and dignified care close to home and loved ones.

Existing residential hospice beds in Burlington will get an additional $520,300 over the next two years for nursing, personal support and other services.

Carpenter Hospice opened its doors in 2002, and not only provides end-of-life care, but also helps people deal with grief and life-limiting illnesses.

“Carpenter Hospice has supported our community, during life's most challenging moments,” said Burlington MPP Natalie Pierre. in a news release. “Thanks to the support from the Ontario Trillium Foundation’s Resilient Communities Fund, Carpenter Hospice has increased awareness of hospice palliative care programs and supports in the Halton community”.

Ontario is investing over $53.8 million over the next two years to increase funding by 45 per cent for all approved hospice beds in Ontario, plus an additional increase for hospice beds in small facilities.

“The funding will help families have critical conversations about quality of life as part of their health care planning, it will support families as they journey through grief including parents facing the loss of an infant, and it will sustain hospice residences to meet the growing demand for hospice palliative care,” President and CEO of Hospice Palliative Care Ontario Rick Firth said in a news release.

The provincial investment includes $10.9 million in multiyear funding to continue operations of 23 additional residential hospice beds through the 2023-24, 2024-25, and 2025-26 fiscal years.