Ensuring people receive proper treatment and respect during a difficult time of their life.
That’s what Kenora-Rainy River MPP Greg Rickford hopes to do with an announcement of funding at the Dryden Regional Health Centre.
Rickford says the money will be used to establish a hospice bed at the hospital.
Hospice care provides patients with palliative care, a comfortable place to stay, where they can be closed to loved ones.
Rickford stresses the Monday announcement is one of the first steps of ending “hallway healthcare”.
Rickford notes the government “will be taking various other steps in the not-to-distance future, which will send a strong message to Toronto that we have a unique set of circumstances out here and we are going to address them.”
Rickford stresses “Dryden, as usual, does a great job of representing itself through great proposal writing and made a great case that this needed to happen sooner rather than later”.
Hospital Chief Executive Officer Wade Petranik says they will be working with community partners to ensure the services are utilized well.
Petranik says they will be coordinating with their partners to raise awareness of the program and the services available as well as transition people through the system.
He notes specially trained staff will be hired to work with patients and their families to accommodate all of their physical, emotional and spiritual needs.
The funding is a part of a province wide initiative of $33-million for 193 hospice beds.
