The Kensington Hospice recently celebrated its fifth anniversary of providing palliative care in the Annex. One of the seven health services provided by the Kensington Health Centre, the hospice has 10 beds and provides end-of-life care that not only meets the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of its patients, but also supports a patient’s friends and family.

“All kinds of care, physical care was the largest, but also the care from the nurses were very helpful for her,” said the friend of one patient who preferred to remain anonymous. “The nurses even helped me sometimes; we’d have little conversations and I realized that the little conversations helped me to come to terms with what was going on.”

The non-profit health centre welcomes charitable gifts, with donations being used to improve the facilities, acquire new equipment, as well as fund research and enhancement programs. In addition to the hospice, the health centre provides long-term and community care, a screening clinic, ophthalmology services, and runs the Eye Bank of Ontario.

—Noelle Defour/Gleaner News