WHEREAS hospice societies provide important, caring and cost-effective end-of-life services for the dying and their families; AND WHEREAS the provincial Hospital District Act prohibits regional hospital districts from requisitioning funds to support hospices and partnering with provincial health authorities on hospice service delivery: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Hospital District Act be amended to provide enabling legislation authorizing regional hospital districts to requisition funds to support the capital costs of hospice societies and centres located within a regional hospital district.
Ministry of Health While the Ministry of Health the Ministry is not in a position at this time to provide assurances of legislative amendments, section 49 of the Hospital District Act provides the ability for a Regional Hospital District RHD to request that a facility be designated a health facility for the purposes of RHD cost sharing. Each request is reviewed by the Ministry on its own merit. To begin that process, the RHD needs to apply to the Ministry for such designation and the application needs to include: -Meeting minutes from the RHD board granting their support to have the hospice designated as a health facility under -A letter of support for designation from the local health authority. -Evidence that the hospice has established a non-profit society as an agency accountable for receiving and administering public funds. The Ministrys and the health authoritys support for the designation of the hospice as a health facility for the purposes of the RHD cost sharing is not a commitment of future provincial or health authority funding towards the capital or operations of that facility.