Dedicated palliative care will be coming to southern Bruce and Grey counties next year.
The Southwest LHIN has approved operational funding for a four-bed hospice to operate out of the Hanover and District Hospital, which will be a satellite location of Owen Sound's Chapman House.
Interim Executive Director Alex Hector says the Hanover location is targeting an opening date of March 31 and will serve as a temporary home until a permanent facility can be built in Walkerton.
He says they considered communities across the region for their satellite location but settled on Brockton in order to best serve southern Bruce and Grey.
Hector says they will follow the model of Chapman House, looking to build a hospice with end-of-life care in a comforting environment.
"We're trying to sort of create a residential type of setting, that is able to provide the palliative care, the pain relief, the comfort and the dignity for the patients and their families during their final days," says Hector. "So we have to be very thoughtful and selective about where we put that location, what type of building, and so on."
Hector says they would like to operate six beds in the new facility and the LHIN has applied for capital funding from the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care for construction costs at $200,000 per bed, or $1.2-million.