The push for a hospice centre in Niagara Falls is scheduled to go before city council Tuesday.
Politicians have received a staff report for information purposes outlining the process for establishing a facility in the community.
During a meeting in March, council unanimously approved a motion brought forward by Coun. Victor Pietrangelo asking for a report on how the city can facilitate such a project, as well as potential locations.
Hospice palliative care aims to relieve suffering, provide comfort and improve the quality of life for people living with a terminal illness, along with their caregivers, family and friends.
To provide comfort, hospice facilities are purposely designed to reflect a residential home-like setting as opposed to an acute-care environment, which includes associated spaces enabling a resident’s family to be on site to support them.
In Niagara, hospice care is provided via Hospice Niagara, whose primary facility is the 10-bed Stabler Centre in St. Catharines.
Hospice Niagara is expanding its services with the addition of a 10-bed facility in Fort Erie, to be co-located on Niagara Region’s newly redeveloped Gilmore Lodge long-term-care site.
As well, 10 beds are to be built in conjunction with another long-term-care facility redevelopment project led by Club Richelieu in Welland.
“Even with the addition of these 20 new beds, Niagara can still be considered to be underserved as the region should have between 31 to 45 hospice beds based on provincial standards,” said the city report.
“The introduction of hospice care to Niagara Falls would help alleviate the region’s overall shortfall of hospice space. Also, from a perspective of service to residents, not having a hospice in the second largest community in Niagara causes hardship to many families.”
Establishing a hospice centre in Niagara Falls would require the city to partner with an agency currently providing services, which is seeking to establish new beds, and which meets Ministry of Health risk-assessment requirements, and proceed through a four-stage process, said the report.
“In Niagara, a logical partner would be Hospice Niagara who would make the hospice care ask with support from the Hamilton, Niagara, Haldimand and Brant Local Health Integration Network through the province’s hospice capital program.”
Staff said a minimum of one hectare of land would be needed to host a 1,395-square-metre (15,000-square-foot) facility, similar in size to Gilmore Lodge, with related parking.
A review of city-owned lands shows there are nine vacant sites at least one hectare in size, said staff.
“A closer examination of these nine properties indicates that none of them would be suitable to host a hospice care centre due to a variety of factors such as being located in an industrial area, encumbered by environmental features, or the lands are being used to host a large stormwater management pond, etc.,” said the report.
“Accordingly, with no suitable municipal-owned vacant land available, the city could offer the land of an existing city-owned facility such as the (former) Coronation Centre (on Summer Street). Alternatively, the city could explore partnership opportunities with other government agencies such as the Niagara Region via the Meadows of Dorchester long-term-care site or Niagara Health’s future hospital campus.”
Staff said a hospice centre could cost about $400 per square foot to construct for a total cost of $10 million with furnishings, but without factoring in the cost of land.
Ray Spiteri is a St. Catharines-based reporter for the Niagara Falls Review. Reach him via email: raymond.spiteri@niagaradailies.com
