Ontario Expanding and Investing in Palliative Care in north Scarborough

June 26, 2023

Yee Hong Centre receives $473,000 Top-Up Funding for Hospice Services

NEWS

June 26, 2023

SCARBOROUGH, ON — As part of Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care, the Ontario government is expanding access to palliative care services in north Scarborough, by supporting the Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care with a top-up funding of $473,000 for their hospice services for the year of 2023-2024. This is part of Ontario’s $147.4 million 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.

“Our government is fully committed to improving palliative care services across Ontario and is proud to support great partners like the Yee Hong Centre in Scarborough, working together for communities that need the expanded support they deserve,” said Raymond Cho, MPP for Scarborough North and Ontario’s Minister for Seniors and Accessibility. “The funding will directly contribute to the nursing, personal support, and other vital services provided to patients at the Centre — which also highlighted the importance of full continuum care in a long-term care setting.”

This investment will provide existing residential hospice beds in Scarborough with over $473,000 in additional funding over the next two years for nursing, personal support, and other services delivered to patients at the Yee Hong Centre. This is part of Ontario’s $53.8 million plan 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 provincial investment also includes $10.9 million in multi-year funding to continue operations of 23 additional residential hospice beds through the 2023-24, 2024-25, and 2025-26 fiscal years.

A portion of the funding will be used to expand palliative care services across the province, connecting people to more palliative and end-of-life services including:

• Grief and bereavement supports that help families and caregivers who are grieving the loss of a loved one;
• Advance care planning to help patients and families prepare for future health care decisions; and
• Perinatal palliative care programs that provide specialized grief, bereavement, and peer support that help parents prepare for the loss of their infant.

“We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the Ontario Ministry of Health for their unwavering support and generous top-up funding of $473,000 towards the Yee Hong Peter K. Kwok Hospice for 2023-2024. This funding will enable us to continue providing exceptional end-of-life care to our patients and their families, and we are immensely grateful for the Ministry’s commitment to our mission,” said Dr Joseph Wong, Yee Hong founder and Chair of Yee Hong Community Wellness Foundation.

“When people approach the end of their life, they deserve to know that they can remain in their community, near loved ones,” said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “Expanding access to end-of-life care in Ontario communities will provide patients and their families with additional choices, helping to ensure they stay close to home in a familiar setting, with the specialized care they need.”

With Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care, the province is making it easier for people and their families to connect to the care they need throughout their entire life, whether that’s by expanding access to services in their home or community or giving them the choice to book or take an appointment virtually, to ensure hospital and long-term beds are available when it is needed most.

QUICK FACTS

• Expanding care options in the community is a key part of Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care, the plan to help Ontario families connect to the care they need, in ways that are more convenient for them.
• 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

• Ontario Connecting More People to Care at Home
• Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care
• 2023 Ontario Budget: Building a Strong Ontario
• Ontario Provincial Framework for Palliative Care