Frequently asked questions

Hospice Care Ottawa is a community-based charitable organization that provides palliative and end-of-life care to people with a life-limiting illness in Ottawa. Our mission is to accompany and support individuals and their families through their end-of-life journey by providing compassionate, high quality care. We serve around 1000 people and their families each year. Currently we have three locations in Ottawa offering community support programs to help people stay at home as long as possible and 21 beds to provide around the clock nursing care for people in their last days and weeks of life.

• Referrals to our residence hospice beds are made by your health care professional and go through a central referral and triage system. Click here for more information about hospice palliative care admission criteria.
• Referrals to our community hospice services can be made by any one.  To make a referral, please call 613-796-6555 or click here to download a referral form

Anyone aged 18+ who is dealing with a life-limiting illness living in Ottawa can access our services and support, regardless of age, status or community.

To see what our Hospice Care Ottawa sites look like, visit our photo gallery by clicking here.

We have three hospice sites across Ottawa:

• Ruddy-Shenkman Hospice / Hein House (110 McCurdy Drive, Kanata)
  Full service, 12 bed residence and community programming ​​
• May Court Hospice (114 Cameron Avenue, Ottawa)
  Full service, 9 bed residence and community programming
• La Maison de l’Est (c/o Résidence Cité Parkway, 380 ave LeBoutillier – COMING SOON)
  Community programs are offered in French, to enhance access to palliative care services for our Francophone community

• Delivery of services is made possible through the support of dedicated health care staff and many volunteers
• Any volunteer who provides direct client care graduates from our 30 hour training program

All of our programs and services are provided to the people we serve at no charge to them. We receive a portion of our operational funding from government but rely mainly on community support to raise the rest of the dollars (over $2 million annually). We receive no government funding for capital projects.

Hospice Care Ottawa relies on community support through donations and fundraising projects to enable us to continue to provide hospice palliative care at no charge. To make a donation please click here.

Volunteers are people of all ages and backgrounds, employed and retired, who give their time to help others. All direct client care volunteers are required to complete our 30-hour training program offered each spring and fall. Volunteers choose assignments that best suit their time, skills and interest. They provide practical and emotional support to clients and families, bereavement support, and office and fundraising assistance.

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer please click here.

Hospice Care Ottawa understands that you may not want to receive correspondence, or you might wish to limit the frequency of communications regarding Hospice Care Ottawa news, projects and fundraising initiatives. To do this, please contact Lesley Doucette, Donations Administrator at lesley.doucette@hospicecareottawa.ca or 613-260-2906 ext. 222.