Strategic Business Plan - Victoria Hospice

S UPPORTING I NFORMATION
BACKGROUND
Victoria Hospice has consistently demonstrated leadership in palliative end-of-life care over the
last 31 years. Its success is the result of understanding and responding to the palliative end-oflife
care needs of the community with programs and services that were not otherwise available
through the health authority.
However, in the past five years there has been a shift in the health authority’s involvement in
palliative end-of-life care, moving from limited support towards a greater acceptance of and
responsibility for this critically important aspect of health care. This is a positive step that begins
to recognize both population growth and changing demographics, but numerous gaps remain,
with much more work needing to be done before palliative end-of-life care is truly part of
mainstream health care.
Victoria Hospice welcomes VIHA’s increasing involvement in this area and its approach to
providing good baseline palliative end-of-life care to patients. At the same time, Victoria Hospice
recognizes that the public will continue to want the most comprehensive and integrated
approach possible to meet the physical, psychological and spiritual needs of individuals and
families facing advancing illness, death and bereavement.
Although VIHA has increased the scope of palliative end-of-life care, it is also caught in federal
and provincial government spending restraints. In short, there are increasing demands,
increasing costs and limited budgets.
Victoria Hospice, with its expertise and experience, is uniquely positioned to help meet some of
the public’s end-of-life care expectations through a more focused and direct approach that
includes skilled and compassionate care, education, research and advocacy.
It took vision, courage and leadership to bring Victoria Hospice to a position where it is
respected for the programs and services it offers. Now, within today’s changing political,
financial and health care environments, Victoria Hospice needs to reframe its strategies, goals,
objectives and service delivery model so that it can provide programs to meet the existing and
evolving needs of the community within the larger end-of-life care context.
Victoria Hospice Society Page 12 of 17 Strategic Business Plan