The group Nipissing Serenity Hospice is confident it will soon be able to build a hospice in North Bay. Spokeswoman Mathilde Bazinet says the 10-bed facility would provide end of life care for people in a respectful way. Bazinet says a hospice is less expensive to operate than a hospital and this frees up more health-care dollars. The daily cost for a room in a hospice is $400 daily and it’s $1,200 a day in a hospital. Bazinet says in five years the difference adds up to $7.5 million and those savings can be applied to other community healthcare services. Bazinet says the organization has narrowed its search for a hospice to about three locations. The Ministry of Health doesn’t provide money to build a hospice but will provide $920,000 in annual operating funds. Local fundraising and applications to FedNor and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation will be used to build the $5.5 million facility. In two-and-a-half years of fundraising, Nipissing Serenity has brought in $60,000. North Bay has been identified as one of 20 communities that should host a hospice.
