Ontario case study finds hospitals ill-equipped for end-of-life care, unprepared for 'silver tsunami'

This Cardus Health case study of hospitals in Hamilton concludes current infrastructure is inadequate to handle palliative care needs of the "silver tsunami". The think tank found two in five area deaths took place in acute care from 2012 to 2013. Of those, 95% were palliative patients. Four out of five were seniors and the majority were admitted through the emergency department. Cardus states it’s most worrisome that 15% of the patients who died were transferred from long-term care and three-quarters were living at home prior to being admitted to acute care. One of Hamilton’s hospitals has 60 palliative-care beds (more than any hospital in the country) but 80% of these are used for cancer care and not for end-of-life patients. Experts cited in the study deplore too few family doctors are willing to do home visits. They note a major barrier for hospitals is a lack of planning for death among those who know they're dying or who care for palliative patients.