{"id":145023,"date":"2023-10-11T19:43:44","date_gmt":"2023-10-11T23:43:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/rwddev\/?p=145023"},"modified":"2023-10-11T19:48:34","modified_gmt":"2023-10-11T23:48:34","slug":"hospice-huntsville-announces-expansion-project-thanks-to-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/hospice-huntsville-announces-expansion-project-thanks-to-funding\/","title":{"rendered":"Hospice Huntsville announces expansion project thanks to funding"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Photo from left, Sandhill Nursery owners Mellissa and Tim Cantelon, MP Graydon Smith, Gordon Schakelaar, Hospice Huntsville Board President, Hospice Huntsville Executive Director Rebecca Ellerson, and Lake of Bays Mayor Terry Glover.<\/em> (Image: Huntsville Doppler).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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On Wednesday, MPP Graydon Smith, Lake of Bays Mayor Terry Glover, Hospice Huntsville staff, volunteers, and the owners of Sandhill Nursery came together to celebrate a substantial increase in funding which will result in an expansion project for Hospice Huntsville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The funding was first announced on June 12 at the Hospice Palliative Care Ontario (HPCO) 2023 conference, Deputy Premier and  Minister of Health, Sylvia Jones, announced $147.4 million over 3 years to support hospice palliative care services across the province.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The provincial government is making unprecedented investments into local health care services in our community,” said MPP Graydon Smith. He said the announcement represents a 65 per cent increase in funding for Hospice Huntsville, “a reflection of our government’s commitment to the people of Parry Sound-Muskoka. End-of-life care remains a top priority for me as the MPP for this riding and I’ll continue to strongly advocate on behalf of our community hospices,” added Smith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rebecca Ellerson, Hospice Huntsville Executive Director, said a capital expansion project for Hospice Huntsville will become a reality thanks to the increase in funding.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Algonquin Grace is a five-bed palliative care residence operated by Hospice Huntsville that provides 24-hour end-of-life professional palliative care to those in their last weeks of life. The organization also provides grief and bereavement support to community members as well as visiting volunteer services.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ellerson explained that the funding includes two streams that will impact Hospice Huntsville services – $10 million for grief and bereavement supports that help families and caregivers who are grieving the loss of a loved one and an increase in the operational funding for hospice residences totaling over $65 million over two years.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This increase in funding represents a 65% increase in funds received from the government to support the 5 beds at Algonquin Grace. The hospice residence funding formula has not been updated since 2016 and this commitment from the Minister of Health shows the organization that the government recognizes the quality and cost-effective service Hospice Huntsville provides and the incredible challenges Hospices have faced in fundraising through the pandemic,” states a release issued by Hospice Huntsville. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The organization receives funding from Ontario  Health that covers approximately 50 per cent of their clinical care costs each year. To ensure the hospice has enough funds to continue to operate its programming at current funding levels, at least $1,800 in donations and fundraising needs to be raised each day, which has been increasingly challenging throughout the pandemic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMore predictable funding for our hospice residence allows us to turn our attention to areas of growth and opportunity. We are grateful for HPCO for their continued advocacy on behalf of Hospices across the province! In my work with our board of directors, we have identified our Grief \/Bereavement and  Visiting Volunteer programs as real opportunities to help support high-quality end-of-life care in the community. Enrollment in these groups and services has notably increased throughout the pandemic. In order to expand to support these developing programs, we need to have dedicated, specialized space to operate. To this end, we are planning to launch a capital expansion project to create a 3500-square-foot extension on the back of our existing building. It will have a separate entrance and parking lot area. We are focused on pre-construction work this year with plans to have this space operational by 2026,\u201d said  Ellerson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All funds raised at this year\u2019s Sandhill Fall Festival will be directed towards the capital expansion project. Hospice Huntsville extended its sincere gratitude to owners Tim and Melissa Cantelon and the entire Sandhill staff for their support.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hospice Huntsville Year Overview:<\/p>\n\n\n\n