Island Health is advertising for someone to build a six-bed Community Hospice Unit in Campbell River.
There are currently four publicly-funded hospice beds at Yucalta Lodge, and several private beds at the Campbell River Hospice Society’s Evergreen Road location. Island Health wants to move the four Yucalta beds to a new location and add two more.
The beds will be intended for people suffering from a terminal illness with a life expectancy of three months. Priority will be given to people who have care needs beyond what can be supported at home or do not want to die at home.
The facility will also need to meet the terms of Island Health’s Medical Assistance in Dying policy, providing services on site for those who request it.
Bids close November 20.
The last time Island Health added hospice capacity in Campbell River was 2017.
A recent report from the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) found while Canada is generally inadequate in providing hospice care, BC is the exception to the rule. The province provides more than eight hospice beds per 100,000 residents, the most out of any province. BC has 446 beds available, second only to Ontario.
BC is the only province to exceed seven beds per 100,000 population, a “best practices” standard identified by the Auditor-General of Ontario.
There is some room for BC to improve, says the report.
“CCS urges the Government of British Columbia to continue to remove barriers to accessing palliative care, including financial barriers. While short-stay hospice care is subsidized, the Government of British Columbia is the only province that charges a fee to provide such care,” says the report. “We would suggest this is a barrier to many low-income British Columbians, particularly those who experience various forms of marginalization, and we would encourage the Government to end this practice.”
