Huron Expositor, 2016-12-14, Page 5Wednesday, December 14, 2016 • Huron Expositor 5
LHIN says no decisions have been made regarding Huron Perth hospice
Lynda Hillman-Rapley
Postmedia Network
It starts with a great idea.
That is the mantra of the
Aviva Community Fund project.
And that is what South Huron
has - a good idea.
Last week Jessica's House
won this competition to the
tune of $100.000 for the local
residential hospice that will be
available to anyone who
receives a terminal or life
threatening illness diagnosis.
The process of this contest
begins with a charity or com-
munity organization that's mak-
ing a local difference, and that
group submits the idea.
The number one way to be
successful in this Aviva bid for
the $100,000 was listed as
"Result in change that posi-
tively affects your community."
Check. Jessica's House sent in
their bid and received huge
community support and won.
"Jessica's House is for every
person who requires this ser-
vice, regardless of age, gender,
economic status, race or reli-
gion, or where they live in
Huron and Perth counties," says
committee member Deb
Homuth.
According to Bonnie Lysyk
Auditor General in 2014,
"Access to residential hospice
beds is an issue in Huron
County as identified by the SW
LHIN. Although most people
would prefer to die at home,
most die in hospital. Aside from
the compassionate aspect of
this, caring for terminally ill
patients in an acute-care hospi-
tal is estimated to cost over 40%
more than providing care in a
hospital-based palliative -care
unit. This is more than double
the cost of providing care in a
hospice bed and over 10 times
more than providing at-home
care."
The premise behind Jessica's
House is to bring a residential
hospice to South Huron. It was
named after 22 year old Jessica
Hamather who had died in
December 2015. The committee
was well on its way to making
the idea a reality when they
applied to Aviva, while at the
same time hoping the Local
Integration Network (LHIN)
would also see the need, as they
are funding up to $105,000 per
bed. Jessica's House would like
three beds.
The government provides no
capital funding for residential
hospices therefore all the funds
to purchase the land and build
and furnish the hospice must be
incurred locally. Residential
Hospice beds subsidized 60%
by MoH (approx. $306) and the
remainder (40%) must be
secured through community
fund raising every year.
HOW WE GOT HERE
In January a consulting team
(Huron Perth Hospice Palliative
Care Collaborative ) was formed
with the result being that com-
mittee would advise the LHIN
as to who should get beds. That
release is to come in January.
The approval process began at
the Huron Perth Residential
Hospice Subcommittee, then
the Huron Perth Palliative Care
Collaboration. From there the
SWLHIN Hospice Palliative
Care Leadership SWLHIN board
endorsement and then Ministry
of Heath award and funding.
The first two in the process have
been done.
With Huron -Perth being a
priority of need, Jessica's House
wanted to be at the table. They
asked to be included in January.
That did not happen, and as to
why, SWLHIN CAO Michael
Barrett said they had met with
South Huron "on a couple of
occasions and very aware of
their community support." He
said the reason Jessica's House
was not at the table until
November was because the
request came from the South
Huron Hospital Foundation and
what they needed was someone
from the community not the
hospital. By November, ten
months later, Kim Winbow
Coordinator of Hospice and
Bereavement Services was
invited to a meeting.
Payne explained to the Lake-
shore Advance that, "The South
Huron Hospital foundation was
told we could not be at the table
because we would be in conflict
of interest. Then they told us
we couldn't because the terms
of reference didn't allow for a
foundation even though in
August Michael Barrett said at a
meeting with all the communi-
ties that it was 'about the right
people being at the table He
assured us we would be
included. Kim Winbow is there
now because she represents
VON and her clinical experi-
ence. Not because of her con-
nection to Jessica's House,
although she is from South
Huron."
The message relayed to the
South Huron community from
the LHIN was that there would
be no decision - no release of
information until January 2017.
Again, that is not what
happened.
A reporter for the Beacon
Herald wrote an article Decem-
ber 2nd stating their (Stratford)
hospice committee had
received an early Christmas
present that, "It's very likely
Stratford and Perth County will
be getting a residential hospice.
That committee said "shovels
are expected to break ground
this summer."
The article quoted a commit-
tee member stating, "The target
is aggressive. (The South West
LHIN) want us to have it open
by March 2018."
The Residential Hospice
Stratford Perth Steering Com-
mittee had been working on
getting approvals from the
South West LHIN to build the
centre of excellence for about
three years. The committee
announced to the media
December 2 that their project
was "moving ahead." They said
they had received approvals just
that morning. (December 2).
"The Stratford -Perth hospice
will have six beds inside a
stand-alone building at Green-
wood Court where the property
will be leased for $1 a year. The
number of beds could double
over the next decades to accom-
modate an aging population.
There will be another hospice
in the Clinton area with four
beds, bringing the total number
of beds between the two coun-
ties to 10,"
In their Beacon Herald story
they quoted a release from Lisa
Penner, SWLHIN Palliative Care
Network lead.
"The commissioned study
and report has been completed
to inform a Huron Perth solu-
tion for residential hospice."
"..The proposed model
includes a recommendation for
a centralized location with a
satellite: 6 beds in Stratford and
4 beds be located in the Clinton
area. The Stratford site was rec-
ommended because it is the
most populous centre within
Perth County and the Clinton
area was recommended
because it is central for Huron
County. The ten beds are being
optimally positioned to maxi-
mize access for all residents of
the Huron Perth sub -region..."
South Huron Hospital associ-
ation chair Kimberley Payne
was shocked with this Beacon
Herald news as just that morn-
ing, their committee met with
LHIN representatives and were
told again there would be no
decisions made until the new
year.
Another release, this one a
statement from the South West
LHIN on residential hospice
planning in Huron Perth was
sent Tuesday December 6th,
"Although reports are circu-
lating about the location of new
hospice beds in Huron and
Perth Counties, the South-
west LHIN says no decisions
have been made. We want to
ensure that we locate these
beds so that we serve the
greatest number of people
within those two counties,
and at the same time ensure
that we have enough beds in
one location to provide an
efficient and safe operation
for the residential hospice."
When the Lakeshore
Advance asked Barrett about
the discrepancy regarding the
Beacon Herald story that
used the information from
Penner he said, "That is not
correct. The community com-
mittees have made recom-
mendations to the board as to
where the ten beds allocated
for the region should go. That
is their advice."
From her position in South
Huron, Payne told the Lake-
shore Advance, "The LHIN
paw liver
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itif
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issuing a statement last week
(Penner release) saying that the
study recommends a certain
model has built expectations in
both communities which is sus-
pect at best and potentially very
disappointing for people who
are working hard for good solu-
tions, which includes Jessica's
House in South Huron, which is
breaking ground in March 2017
not even considered/men-
tioned in the model."
Barrett told the Lakeshore
Advance of the release penned
under Lisa Penner's name,
"That information was not
intended to say a decision has
been made."
Barrett said nothing has been
finalized and the board still has
to consider all of the informa-
tion. He expects that to happen
early in the new year. "Our
board only advises," he told the
Lakeshore Advance adding
there are two passionate com-
munities (South Huron and
Stratford) and they have done a
"great job raising money."
"Decisions related to residen-
tial hospice development and
funding are the responsibility of
the South West LHIN Board.
The South West LHIN Board of
Directors will make this deci-
sion early in 2017."
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