Admission
Prospective residents of Hill House must:
- Be diagnosed with a terminal illness with an approximate prognosis of 1 month or less to live.
- Have an understanding that resuscitation and other life-prolonging interventions will not be provided at Hill House. The resident and/or their substitute decision-maker (SDM) or Power of Attorney (POA) must expect there will be no further diagnostic testing, monitoring or curative treatment other than those required for pain and symptom management and comfort care.
Referral Process
Referrals are accepted from a variety of sources. If you are an attending physician, a hospital, any type of health care professional, any community hospice organization, a home for the aged or even an individual with a terminal illness or a family member, you can initiate a referral to Hill House Hospice.
The best way to start the referral process is to call Hill House at 905-737-9308 and speak with the intake nurse. The nurse can advise you on next steps.
In the course of time, a health care professional will need to send a formal referral to Home and Community Care Support Services Central (former Central LHIN or CCAC) with the following information:
- A completed Palliative Care Common Referral Form.
- Up-to-date palliative care consult notes
- Current medication list
If you are a General Practitioner (GP), you can continue to provide care to your resident as their primary physician, if you feel comfortable doing so and meet our standard requirements. Please contact Hill House for more information on our doctor mentorship program.
Availability of a Bed
Once a referral has been made, a resident file is created and our intake nurse will connect with the individual and/or their Substitute Decision Maker (SDM) or Power of Attorney (POA) for personal care.
Some referrals are urgent and others are for future admissions to Hill House. No matter the referral type, the intake nurse will stay in contact with the referred individual and/or their SDM or POA at regularly timed intervals to re-evaluate needs and situations.
At Hill House, when a bed becomes available, a triage system is used to determine which referred individual is in most need for the available bed at that time.
We make every effort to be there for those when they need us most. Admissions are based on the applicant's care needs and not the length of time since the referral was made.