Local healthcare officials are concerned about the implications doctor-assisted suicide may have on end-of-life care at hospice facilities.
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled new legislation must be in place by February 2016, just a few months after the Chatham-Kent Hospice plans to open and start accepting patients.
Executive Director Jessica Smith says this new change may complicate things. "When we heard the ruling, we definitely had the feeling that the decision is certainly going to have some complex and confounding implications for end-of-life care overall, which will include services and care that will be provided," says Smith.
She says the hospice really doesn't have an opinion on doctor-assisted suicide. "Up until this point it's basically a non-issue for us because it has been illegal... that's as far as the conversation has gone," says Smith.
Palliative care should be the first option for patients with a terminal or life-threatening condition, Smith says, adding the services are "often under-utilized and even under-delivered."