Fred McGinn has written an interesting piece in The Chronicle Herald on hospice care in Nova Scotia. He is someone who is working to make it happen. That’s encouraging because if we left it to those who are in charge of health care we would just have more inaction.
Read McGinn’s opinion here:
http://thechronicleherald.ca/opinion/1209600-hospice-would-lighten-the-load-on-acute-care
As I have written previously, the Annapolis Valley District Health Authority (AVDH) has been talking about a hospice for 14 years! Their decade and a half of inaction has seen the cost of any such facility double! And given how badly health care has been at managing and completing capital projects on budget, the cost will probably be even more.
The original cost of the AVDH hospice has risen from $4.2 million in 2000 to a current price tag of $8 million. The foundation has raised $7.7 million. This means a lot of people have been denied a more dignified death. It also means that families and patients have had a much different experience than if a hospice/palliative care unit were available.
Staff who work in palliative care have a different focus that those on the regular hospital floor. Palliative care is about recognizing the transition to end of life. They seem to have a different appreciation of pain management and how to involve the family. They speak the truth so people can prepare. I have heard horror stories about false hope given to next-of-kin by well-meaning hospital staff, who think they are sheltering the family from the unpleasant reality. In many instances families have missed the opportunity to say goodbye.
Building palliative care units/hospices is the right thing to do for people, and coincidently is positive for budgets. So why the reticence by health authorities?
14 years of talk doesn’t sound like health care executives have much interest in building such a facility.
helphealthcare 
As they say, what else is new? From my understanding the actual cost of the hospice was $4 million, but the AVRH decided to ask for $8 million to cover other operating costs. Many, many good people gave their hard earned dollars and even life savings to the AVRH Hospice Foundation believing it was all going towards the hospice, but from my understanding it wasn’t. Maybe the hospice foundation could answer.
At the very least, all nursing staff should receive some level of palliative care training. Much of what is needed is not clinical but rather training in sensitivity and how to assist the dying with a more dignified passing.
When our elderly Mom died in Valley Regional in 2009, she should have been in palliative care due to her underlying illness (cancer). She was shuffled from one part of the hospital to another until the diagnosis was made, less than a week before her death.
On the evening of her passing, my sisters and I were subjected to some very stressful activities, including the nurse and LPN on duty regularly lifting her sheets to see the condition of her feet. For those uninitiated to this behaviour, a dying person’s extremities darken as blood flow ceases. Imagine our distress over this very clinical approach to such a difficult and sad time. My mom’s illness and subsequent passing was fraught with many other indignities as she was a senior, but her care in her dying days was a real eye opener for all of us. Unfortunately, as so much revenue is required to support the never ending costs of salary and benefits for healthcare workers, I doubt we will ever see a patient centric focus here in this province.
I am sorry to hear of your experience. We also experienced an outrageous, disrespectful, mean-spirited doctor at Valley Regional in the final hours. My sister and I were stunned by his actions and attitude. Not a man who should be around people, certainly not elderly people.