Kincardine puts $5,000 toward Huron Shores Hospice

Kincardine council has agreed to grant the Huron Shores Hospice steering committee the entire $5,000 it had requested but not through the community grants process.

In committee-of-the-whole Nov. 16, clerk Donna MacDougall explained the staff report, indicating that the proponents of the hospice had requested $5,000 in 2016 and additional funding in 2017. There is $2,400 remaining in the community grants fund which could be accessed by the hospice committee if it submits an application for 2016, she said. Or council could fund the total $5,000, leaving the grant fund over-budget by $2,600. The hospice committee could then apply for funds in 2017.

Councillor Maureen Couture said she totally supports the hospice project and suggested a different option: granting the $5,000 as requested, funded through the health care reserve.

"I would like to see stable funding for this project," agreed councillor Randy Roppel. "We should add this to the budget process so they know exactly how much money they have every year, rather than piecemeal it."

Councillor Andrew White agreed, saying this is an important project and the funding should not be left to "possibly" getting a grant from the community fund. "We should deal with it now."

"This is just like education and health care," said deputy mayor Jacqueline Faubert. "We are not responsible for these things. We are responsible for water, sewers and roads. However, we can use the funds set aside for such a program, and that is from the health care reserve."

Committee-of-the-whole agreed to grant the hospice committee $5,000, taken from the health care reserve fund, and that this funding be included in the 2017 budget. That was later endorsed by council.

The Huron Shores Hospice steering committee's proposal is to establish a community-operated residential hospice for Kincardine and the South Bruce County area.

The short-term goal is to open a one-bed residential hospice suite in Tiverton Park Manor in early 2017, with the long-term goal a three-bed facility in the Municipality of Kincardine. The three-bed residential hospice would act as a single-point access to hospice and palliative care services that already exist in the community.

The business plan for a three-bed residential hospice will be submitted to the South West Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) by Sept. 1, 2017, and upon receiving approval for funding, a capital fund-raising campaign would begin for a new build or purchase of an existing building.