The Alberta Government says it will strengthen palliative care in the province.
Health Minister, Tyler Shandro was joined by Peace River MLA, Dan Williams to announce $20 million in funding to improve access to end-of-life care for patients and their families.
$5 million will be provided to the Covenant Health Palliative Institute to increase access to palliative and end-of-life services and promote advance care planning so Albertans can ensure their wishes are honoured.
Additionally, $1 million will be provided to the Alberta Hospice Palliative Care Association (AHPCA) to establish in-person and online support groups, develop Alberta’s first telephone grief support line and expand workshops on palliative care for Albertans.
“Palliative care preserves the dignity of the individual by affirming their life and by providing spiritual, emotional, and family support,” says Shandro.
“Albertans deserve to spend their final moments in comfort. Our partnership with Covenant Health and the AHPCA and our decision to end co-payments, represent a first step at ensuring all Albertans are able to achieve that.”
Shandro also announced that co-payments for end-of-life medications will be eliminated.
According to the government, approximately 2,700 Albertans who choose to die at home in in palliative care pay for drugs that normally would have been covered if they were in the hospital.
Shandro adds that this change has been effective since March 1, and will allow people to decide where to spend their final moments without having to worry about the cost of drugs.
Williams has been appointed to consult with stakeholders and Albertans to see how the remaining $14 million will be spent.
“We will consult with everybody,” says Williams. “Particularly groups that have an interest or that have worked in palliative care in some fashion or another.”
When asked about being appointed to the position, Williams said he was honoured.
“This is an issue that is unlike any other because it will affect just about every Albertan,” explains Williams.
The Trending 55 Newsroom asked Shandro if palliative care can be improved in the rural north and he says that is the government’s hope.
“We are starting with these grants for both patients and their families,” says the minister.
“I hope some of the feedback that Dan (Williams) gets when he speaks to some of the stakeholders and how we can best expand our supports throughout not just our major and mid-sized urban centres but smaller urban areas and remote communities as well.”
– Kenny Trenton, Trending 55 Newsroom
