Palliative unit the hot topic at PTHAC

By Gillian Slade on November 28, 2017.

gslade@medicinehatnews.com  @MHNGillianSlade

The decision to close the palliative care ward at the city’s hospital and use only Carmel Hospice is still controversial and was discussed at the health advisory council on Monday.

Veronica Swan was one of about 14 members of the public who expressed their opinions.

“They (hospital) have to care for people at the end of life,” said Swan. “Palliative care is part of the hospital. We own the hospital and it was built to serve the people of Medicine Hat.”

During the Palliser Health Advisory Council meeting, a figure of $7,851 per day for hospital care was mentioned in comparison to a fraction of that at the hospice. That information is not correct, Katherine Chubbs, chief zone officer AHS south zone, told the News after the meeting.

“That is cost per stay (in hospital) not cost per day, so that is where the confusion came in I think,” said Chubbs. “This is based on an average stay in hospital.”

The cost of hospitalization per day is closer to $1,200 or $1,500, said Chubbs.

The cost savings of closing the palliative care ward at Medicine Hat Regional Hospital is derived from paying for one ward, in this case the hospice, to be almost fully occupied, rather than having the hospital and hospice both at about 50 per cent capacity, said Chubbs.

“If the hospital beds are open, we have to staff them or the unit is closed. You can’t have it half way,” said Chubbs. “That is where the savings are coming from. That unit will not be open any longer.”

Les Pearson suggested by the end of December there will be three empty floors in the old part of the hospital.

Swan is aghast there will be all this vacant space after so much money has been invested in building the new wing.

“First of all I believe we have one floor (vacant), which is the sixth floor with two units,” said Linda Iwasiw, senior operating officer acute care east AHS. “I’m not entirely clear where the notion of three floors came from.”

There are some areas moving into the new ambulatory care wing and some of that vacated space will be repurposed to its original use — acute care, said Iwasiw.

Moving palliative care from the hospital to the hospice is not privatizing care. Carmel Hospice is operated by Covenant Health and palliative care offered there is still funded by public healthcare dollars, said Chubbs.

“Covenant Health is a not-for-profit provider. We do funnel funds to Covenant Health all the time to provide a publicly funded service,” said Chubbs.

While some people feel palliative care should be in the hospital others would argue it should be provided in a hospice for a home-like setting, said Chubbs.

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