Victoria Hospice

Description

About Victoria Hospice
Since 1980 Victoria Hospice has provided endoflife care focused on palliative treatment Our nurses counsellors spiritual caregivers physicians and trained volunteers provide comfort for the patient and support for the family rather than a cure for progressive and lifelimiting illness

Care is offered in patients homes within our 17bed inpatient unit and as specific medical consultation to patients in other health care facilities Over 400 trained volunteers provide companionship and support Victoria Hospice offers bereavement support to families for up to one year following at death

About 50 of Victoria Hospices annual operating costs are not covered by our health care system and must be funded through community donations to our

Our Mission
To enhance the quality of life for those facing advancing illness death and bereavement through skilled and compassionate care education research and advocacy

Our Vision
Quality endoflife care for all

Our Charter of Values

Respect
We respect the intrinsic worth of each individual

Compassion
Compassion underscores all our actions and decisionmaking We demonstrate an empathic nonjudgmental manner We believe in the power of tender acts of kindness

Integrity
Integrity forms the basis of personal and professional practice We take individual and collective responsibility for our actions We are accountable and invite scrutiny We are honest and fair in all we do within an ethical framework

Commitment
Commitment to quality endoflife care is fundamental to our work and our relationships Through our dedication we honour the people we serve each other and ourselves

Collaboration
Collaboration is fundamental to achieving our best work Respectful honest communication with appreciation for diversity enables us to accomplish together what could not be achieved alone

Excellence
Through the active pursuit of skills knowledge growth and innovation we achieve our highest personal and professional potential in our unwavering quest for quality endoflife care

History

History of Victoria Hospice
Victoria Hospice had its earliest beginnings in a grassroots movement called the Victoria Association for Care of the Dying VACD VACD was formed in 1978 to provide a volunteer program of support for people in our community who were dying

Two years later the provincial governments Ministry of Health initiated Hospice Victoria as the first of two pilot projects in British Columbia the second was Hospice Vancouver to develop a model of care for the dying and to assess its value to the community This pilot project ended in 1982 After evaluating the great success of the pilot project the Ministry designated Hospice Victoria as an ongoing essential part of the health care system VACD which had been providing volunteers during the pilot project phase amalgamated with Hospice Victoria when the Victoria Hospice Society VHS was created in March 1983 Learn more about the current Victoria Hospice Society board of directors

The Society received funding from the Ministry of Health to provide seven acute care hospice palliative care beds at Royal Jubilee Hospitals Bay Pavilion Some community care services were provided offsite at that time but limited resources meant long waiting lists for both community and inpatient services In 1989 with funding from the Victoria Health Project the Victoria Hospice Palliative Response Team PRT was established offering emergency shortterm crisis consultation and treatment for problems that would otherwise require admission to hospital At this time Victoria Hospice expanded its working relationships with Home Care Nursing creating an integrated continuum of hospice palliative care from home to hospital

In 1994 Victoria Hospice received additional funding from the Closer To Home initiative that enabled PRT to expand into a 24hour service The following year the Ministry of Health asked Victoria Hospice to take over management of 10 Long Term Care palliative care beds In June 1996 the third and fourth floors of the Richmond Pavilion at Royal Jubilee Hospital were developed to accommodate a 17bed hospice palliative care facility becoming one of the larger hospitalbased programs in Canada On any given day Victoria Hospice now has over 340 patients registered on its program of care with almost 800 deaths annually and an annual operating budget of over 7 million

In 1997 Victoria Hospice established the Victoria Hospice and Palliative Care Foundation to assume a primary fundraising role and to provide investment financial management and stewardship of funds raised for Victoria Hospice operations The Foundation is registered under the Income Tax Act as a charity Our charitable registration number is 874409964RR0001

In 1999 Victoria Hospice formalized its longstanding history of helping others learn how to take better care of the dying when it established the Victoria Hospice Learning Centre for Palliative Care now known as Victoria Hospice Education Services This department offer palliative care courses publications and ongoing training services to professionals and the public and works with other partner organizations to support and provide the highest standards of hospice palliative care

In 2006 the VHS Research amp Development Office was created to better understand current clinical care and to seek ways to increase the quality of care for all