Hospice Muskoka left without funding in provincial budget
Hospice Muskoka is pleading for help after being left without additional funding for palliative care beds by the Provincial government.
On Sunday, the executive director of hospice Muskoka found herself at the Cottage Life show in Mississauga, looking to fundraise.
"We were very disappointed with the provincial budget that there was no additional funding for hospices, particularly for hospice Muskoka," said Donna Kearney, Executive Director of Hospice Muskoka.
Hospice Muskoka provides healthcare services to people dying or near the end of life. Andy's House opened up two years ago in Port Carling. It has ten beds. The hospitals in Muskoka rent out five beds, and the province funds $315,000 annually for three beds. That leaves the organization with the challenge of fundraising more than $1 million annually.
"Fundraising in Muskoka is not easy, so to raise $1.1 million to keep our doors open every year is becoming exceedingly difficult," Kearney said. "Why should I have to be spending my weekends here asking people to donate money so that I could care for people who are dying."
Someone Stephen Domnanovits stopped by the information booth at the cottage life show.
"I have just been diagnosed recently with stage four pancreatic cancer. We understand now the importance of it because being diagnosed, we just understand they do need the support," said Domnanovits.
Kearney said her organization is hoping people who cottage in Muskoka understand their challenges and do what they can to help in more ways than just donating.
"We're asking people to advocate to the government for funding for hospices across Ontario," she added. "The hospital in Muskoka is the only reason that Hospice Muskoka is still open."
Kearney said it costs significantly less to care for a patient in hospice than the hospital and hopes the government reconsiders its decision.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.