The BC government will begin annual funding of Canuck Place Children’s Hospice to the tune of $5 million per year, starting in 2018.
The announcement was made by finance minister Mike de Jong, who said the funding is meant to provide paediatric, palliative medical care, and support to BC children and families.
“Canuck Place Children’s Hospice provides comprehensive pediatric palliative care services and supports to B.C. children and their families and helps those dealing with end-of-life care maintain a sense of normalcy,” de Jong said in a statement.
“Implementing a sustainable funding model will provide the hospice with the consistency needed to plan stable services and supports for families that are experiencing incredibly difficult and emotional times in their lives.”
Additionally, the government is also providing immediate, one-time funding of $4 million. The funding is incremental to the current $1.7 million in annual funding from the Provincial Health Services Authority.
“It’s never easy facing end-of-life care, much less when it is a child,” said health minister Terry Lake. “Families with children needing pediatric palliative care look to Canuck Place Children’s Hospice for services and supports.”
The funding, Lake said, will give Canuck Place the means to continue helping families and their children work through terminal illness.
Funding “aligns” with ongoing efforts
In a release, the province said the funding aligns with BC’s commitment “to support hospice and palliative care for children and adults in efforts to the double the number of beds by 2020 and to support end-of-life care.”
Last month, the province also announced $7.125 million to create new hospice beds in communities around BC, make improvements to current spaces, and support best practices in the palliative approach to care as well as advance care planning by working through the BC Centre for Palliative Care.
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