As representatives from Hospice Kingston get ready to submit a proposal to City Council for a new permanent facility on Princess Street, the local chapter of Dying with Dignity Canada has called out the organization’s decision to not offer assisted suicide at the 10-bed facility.
But Hospice Kingston’s Executive Director, Ron Lirette, has said it’s due to that fact that the staff who will be employed there won’t have the qualifications to do so.
“Hospice (staff) will have a limitation in terms of the skills and competency,” Lirette said.
“We do not have a large staff, we’ll have a fairly limited staff. So we really need to build that capacity to provide the best possible care for individuals who want a natural dying process.”
He added that he doesn’t anticipate much of a need and that performing assisted suicides should be done by the health-care systems which are already in place.
Comments