Left to right: Mayor of Grimsby Jeff Jordan, Mayor of West Lincoln Cheryl Ganann, Mayor of Lincoln Sandra Easton, MPP for Niagara West Sam Oosterhoff, McNally House Executive Director Pamela Blackwood, and McNally House President and Board Chair Murray Bain. Photo credit: Sam Oosterhoff
The provincial government is providing funding to help McNally House expand its residential bed capacity by 67 per cent.
As part of its Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care, the Ontario government is giving the Grimsby hospice centre up to $1,000,000 to support a capital expansion of care from six to 10 residential beds.
The province is also providing McNally House over $420,000 in additional operating funding for 2023-24 to address “growing pressures” and “increase access to high-quality palliative care.”
“Having introduced and seen the passage of the Compassionate Care Act in 2020, I have long been a passionate advocate of hospice care in Niagara and across the province,” said Sam Oosterhoff, MPP for Niagara West.
“The capital expansion of care from six to ten beds at McNally House Hospice, as well as the additional operational funding, reaffirms our government’s commitment to high-quality palliative care in our region and the extraordinary work of the leadership and frontline team at McNally House.”
The $1,000,000 in capital funding from the province will support McNally House’s “Life in Every Moment” campaign to construct four additional residential hospice beds.
The additional operational funding will support nursing care, personal support, bereavement programs, and other services.
“We are truly grateful to the Government of Ontario, Ministry of Health and MPP Oosterhoff for recognizing the need for further investment in the future of hospice palliative care,” said Pamela Blackwood, Executive Director of McNally House.
“As we focus this coming year on the new expansion and redevelopment for McNally House, we are incredibly blessed to also receive the much-needed planning funds which will enable us to move forward to the next stages of our build. The investment of these dollars announced will enable our hospice to advance that vision and we look forward to continuing to work alongside our compassionate community members and government as partners in visioning the future for hospice palliative care.”
Mayor of Grimsby Jeff Jordan called the funding “transformational”.
“Residents of West Niagara deserve healthcare that is available and accessible, without having to leave their families and community,” said Mayor Jordan.
“Today, the province’s transformational support is helping make sure that happens.”
McNally House has also received capital support from both the Town of Lincoln and Township of West Lincoln.
Mayor of Lincoln Sandra Easton said the funding represents “an important investment at the right time and place”.
Mayor of West Lincoln Cheryl Ganann commented that she was “very pleased” with the province’s support and said it will “enable McNally House to more easily provide the caring and compassionate quality end-of-life and bereavement services for which they are so well-known and appreciated.”
McNally House Hospice opened its doors in 2008. It provides specialized palliative care from time of diagnosis to bereavement, free of charge, to people living with a life-limiting illness, as well as those in their life circle. The hospice residence currently has six private rooms attended to by nursing and personal support staff 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It serves the communities of Grimsby, Lincoln, and West Lincoln.
