Today is Advance Care Planning Day

Apr 16, 2017 @ 08:02

The North East Local Health Integration Network (NE LHIN) works to improve a patient’s experience with the health care system across the entire continuum – from birth to death. Expanding access to palliative care services and hospice beds in Northeastern Ontario is just one of the ways the LHIN is responding to Northerners’ needs for compassionate end-of-life care.

 

The NE LHIN held a Death Café at this time last year to help begin conversations about death and normalizing the conversation about end-of-life.  With Advance Care Planning Day on April 16, the NE LHIN encourages Northerners to focus on making end-of-life wishes known to loved ones while they are able to.

 

Louise Paquette, CEO of the NE LHIN, is shown above with the NE LHIN’s Palliative Care Lead, Lianne Valiquette, reflecting on communicating wishes for end-of-life care. “Putting a plan in place ensures my family understands my values and wishes, and helps them with decisions that I may not be able to communicate in my final stages of life,” said Paquette.

 

The NE LHIN provides more than $5 million each year for hospice palliative care across Northeastern Ontario. This includes two hospices in Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie, hospice volunteer visiting delivered by nine agencies, and six education programs. See the NE LHIN’s websitefor information on hospice palliative care across the region.

Advance Care Planning workbooks and guides can be found at www.advancecareplanning.ca

About The North East Local Health Integration Network (North East LHIN) -  The North East LHIN is one of the largest of 14 LHINs in Ontario, responsible for planning, integrating and funding health care services for more than 565,000 people across an estimated 400,000 square kilometers. From offices in North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury and Timmins, this are a provincial crown corporation that ensures the local health care system works when people need it. The North East LHIN brings close to 150 of our region’s health care partners together – hospitals, community support services, mental health and addictions, community health centres, long-term care homes, and the Community Care Access Centre.