Questions and Answers

A residential hospice is a facility that offers meaningful end-of-life care – at no cost to residents or their family members – in a tranquil home-like setting that offers an alternative to dying in the hospital or at home. With a focus on living – not dying – residential hospice care empowers individuals to choose how they navigate their final journey while helping their families cope with and prepare for their last stages of life. An interdisciplinary team of health-care professionals and friendly volunteers provide assistance with pain and symptom management and offer comfort measures in a calm and nurturing environment, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Residential hospice is about caring not curing with a focus on offering free and meaningful care to individuals with a palliative diagnosis. As opposed to a hospital, where care is primarily administered by a medical team – including a primary physician – in a clinical setting, residents are cared for by an interdisciplinary team of health-care professionals (e.g. nurses, personal support workers and social workers) and dedicated volunteers who provide assistance with pain and symptom management and offer comfort measures in a calm, nurturing and home-like environment.

Residents have access to a private room, unrestricted visiting hours and free parking, which are not always available in a hospital setting and have the opportunity to truly choose how they live their final days. For example, having their pet stay with them, the opportunity to eat meals based on their personal choices and schedule, being able to bathe and shower whenever they want, the opportunity to spend time outdoors, etc. In addition, residential hospice care offers a wide range of non-medical service and program options including emotional and spiritual support for residents and their family members, arts and music programming and holistic healing practices.

No residential hospice beds currently exist in Durham Region. VON Durham Hospice Services does provide community services, including in-home hospice palliative care and bereavement support to individuals in Durham Region who are experiencing illness, death and/or grief, with information available on the VON Durham Hospice Services website.

Although there is an estimated need for 33 residential hospice beds in Durham Region, the region is one of the only communities of its size in Ontario without a fully operational residential hospice care centre, meaning that the only option for individuals living their final days is to remain in hospital or go home. Durham Region Hospice is committed to meeting this need by building a 10-bed hospice site in Whitby and a nine-bed hospice site in Clarington.

Our hospices will work with community and hospital partners as part of the health-care system. We will support individuals and their families through their end-of-life journey in a warm, caring, compassionate environment.

Durham Region Hospice – Whitby and Durham Region Hospice – Clarington will support individuals who have received a palliative diagnosis from their family doctor or specialist. This includes speaking with individuals and their family members about how to best support them and where and when Durham Region Hospice can admit them to residential hospice care. Potential residents will be asked to indicate their preferred hospice location, and we will do our best to accommodate.

Once Durham Region Hospice – Clarington and Durham Region Hospice – Whitby are open, referrals will be made by family physicians, hospitals, community health services or individuals and family members. Health-care providers, or individuals themselves, will also be able to call a toll-free number or contact Durham Region Hospice directly to begin the intake process.

Residential hospice offers meaningful care at no cost to residents or their family members.

Residential hospice care is for individuals with a palliative diagnosis and is designed to provide care in the last phase of life. The average stay is typically measured in days or weeks but is totally dependent on individual circumstances.

Residential hospice is about caring not curing. Nurses with specialized training in palliative care staff the hospice 24/7 with support from personal support workers and social workers. This team of interdisciplinary health-care professionals provides assistance with pain and symptom management and comfort measures., Each resident’s own primary care physician works alongside the hospice care team to ensure his or her medical needs are supported with a hospice medical director ensuring that the quality of clinical care meets the highest standards.

Comfort, Care, Compassion is a $15-million capital campaign to support the construction of two new residential hospices in Durham Region and bring this much needed resource to the community. The best way to support Durham Region Hospice is to make a donation and/or help us raise awareness of the campaign in the community. You can donate; follow and like us on Facebook, including sharing our posts; discuss the essential need for residential hospice care in Durham Region with your family, friends and co-workers; or hold a fundraising event.

Governments around the world are recognizing the value of providing quality end-of-life care as part of the continuum of health-care services. In Ontario, hospice care is funded in part by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care as well as targeted capital campaigns, such as the $15 million Comfort, Care, Compassion campaign that was launched in Durham Region in February 2018. The remaining costs needed to operate residential hospice are raised by the communities in which each hospice is located. Generous donations help to deliver programs and services to residents and their families at no cost, so they can focus on living the final stages of life well and with dignity.

Residential hospice care is for any adult with a palliative diagnosis.

Durham Region Hospice – Clarington, a nine-bed facility, will be located on Cobbledick Road in Newcastle, Ontario.

Durham Region Hospice – Whitby will offer 10 beds at the northeast corner of Crawforth Street and Prince of Wales Drive.

At this time, it is anticipated that ground breaking will begin in Whitby in the Spring of 2021, and in Clarington in Summer 2021.

Durham Region Hospice – Whitby and Durham Region Hospice – Clarington will support any adult who has received a palliative diagnosis from their family doctor or specialist. As part of our admittance process, we will speak with individuals and their family members about how we can best support them and where and when Durham Region Hospice can admit them to residential hospice care. Potential residents will be asked to indicate their preferred hospice location, and we will do our best to accommodate.

The 27 residential hospice beds that will be available once Durham Region Hospice and Oak Ridges Hospice are constructed will be regional beds and will be prioritized for ALL residents of Durham Region.

A cornerstone of the residential hospice team, volunteers help care for residents and support their family members by providing comfort measures such as hand and foot massages and helping with position changes; offering companionship including sitting with and listening to residents and family members as they journey through their difficult transition; and assisting with transportation, shopping and kitchen duties, gardening and grounds keeping, and light housekeeping duties. All volunteers are screened by staff, required to provide references, and must undergo a Vulnerable Sector Check. Individuals interested in working directly with residents will be required to take a Fundamentals of Palliative Care course, offered free of charge.

More information about how to get involved as a volunteer will be available once construction of the residential hospices in Durham Region is underway. To inquire about becoming a volunteer with current hospice services operating in the community, please contact info@durhamregionhospice.ca.