Construction of Mississauga’s first hospice center is long overdue, city officials say

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Mississauga is getting its first palliative care center, a facility that local officials say is long overdue for Canada’s seventh-largest city.

“It’s embarrassing” that a city the size of Mississauga — with some 720,000 residents at the last official count — hasn’t had its own hospice for many years, Mayor Carolyn Parrish told a meeting of the council last December, when she was councilor for Ward 5.

At that same meeting in the council chambers of city hall, Kitrina Fex, executive director of the newly formed Mississauga Hospice, echoed those sentiments, noting that “we are the third largest city in the province and the largest city in Canada without a hospice. .”

For 14 years before its name change in November 2023, Hospice Mississauga was known as Heart House Hospice. The organization provided end-of-life care and services to those who needed it, but it did not have its own dedicated facilities.

It badly needed its own physical location, Fex said, noting that at the time Mississauga’s population was aging at a rapid rate.

Fex also said plans were in the early stages for Hospice Mississauga to secure its first permanent location, a 12-bed facility it hoped to open in the fall of 2026.

On Thursday morning, the Ontario government announced it would provide up to $2.5 million “to support the construction of Hospice Mississauga’s new 12-bed palliative care center, which will help patients and their loved ones to access comfortable and dignified end-of-life care.” near my house. »

Ontario Premier Doug Ford added that the new facility will bring comfort to patients and their families “during an incredibly difficult time.”

Mississauga center to add number of palliative care beds to region

Once completed, the new hospice center will be the first hospice center in Mississauga and will provide end-of-life care to individuals and families living in Mississauga and Brampton, the province announced in a news release Thursday.

No completion date has been officially set.

“The palliative care center will support people of all ages living with terminal illness and their caregivers by providing services including palliative care and bereavement and bereavement programs,” provincial government officials added.

The addition of 12 new patient beds in Mississauga, 10 of which will be funded by the provincial government, will bring the total number of adult and pediatric palliative care beds available in Peel and Halton to 30, according to the province.

Fex on Thursday described the advancement of plans for the hospice as a “historic milestone for Mississauga.”

She added in a press release that this achievement “is a testament to what we can accomplish when communities and government work together.”

“A profound breakthrough”

For nearly four decades, Fex said, “we have served this community and now we are bringing a long-held dream to life.” The Palliative Care Center will complete the continuum of care, providing the full range of palliative care services under one roof to the people of Mississauga.

Karli Farrow, president and CEO of Trillium Health Partners, the health care network that oversees hospitals in Mississauga and Credit Valley in addition to the Queensway Health Center in Etobicoke, said the new facility represents “a big step forward” for health care in Mississauga.

The new Hospice Mississauga center will include:

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