In many ways Muskoka could be the canary in the coal mine when it comes to Ontario’s ageing population.
That was the message from Donna Kearney of Hospice Muskoka when she spoke during the latest Bracebridge general committee meeting.
Kearney was in front of councillors to offer them an update on Hospice’s activities, and to see if they would assist in petitioning the provincial government to contribute more funding to increase the number of available hospice beds locally.
Kearney told councillors that there are 14.7 million residents in Ontario and of those, 1% die every year. Of that 1 %, 85% will die of chronic illness, cancer or aging and 15% die unexpectedly.
Kearney said that studies have determined that the majority of people want to die at home or in hospice, but with only 270 hospice beds for all of Ontario, most people aren’t getting the end-of-life care they want.
“It really isn’t good enough – we need to do better,” said Kearney. “People want to die with dignity and peace.”
Roughly 25.5 % of Muskoka’s population is over the age of 65, which is higher than both Simcoe County (18 %) and Ontario on the whole (16.7 %).
Hospice Muskoka serves Georgian Bay Township, Gravenhurst, Bracebridge and Muskoka Lakes Township from Andy’s House in Port Carling. With only three beds, the facility has a waiting list of more than 10 people at any given time, said Kearney. She said Hospice Muskoka needs more beds, more caregivers and access to specialized teams.
Kearney said if the province was willing to add an extra $300,000 to their capital budget that would translate into some five extra beds for the area. She said the region is being “short-changed” by the province because they refuse to include seasonal residents in their population calculations.
Mayor Graydon Smith said he recognized the work of Hospice Muskoka was “vitally important”, and said he was certain the council would do whatever they could to assist in their endeavours.
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