Organization Won't Comply With Doctor-Assisted Death

Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare in Windsor doesn't plan on complying with doctor-assisted suicide despite the Supreme Court of Canada's decision to strike down the old law. President and CEO Janice Kaffer says the organization has only created a draft policy on assisted death so far, which hasn't been endorsed by the board. "Physician-assisted death is not going to be consistent with our faith-based or Catholic teachings and our Catholic health ethics guide," she says. "We're monitoring and following all of the reports and all of the discussions that are happening." Last month the Supreme Court gave the feds a four-month extension to pass physician assisted-suicide legislation. Kaffer says she's disappointed there wasn't an opt out provision for Catholic organizations in the recent parliamentary report. It's a very "complex" process and Kaffer says she wants to ensure the policy is respectful to everyone. "That's why it's taking some time and why our draft policy is not ready for public consumption," she says. In the meantime she says some of this talk can be shifted to other areas. "Not enough conversation has been happening around really improving access to and the quality and caliber of palliative care for individuals across the province," Kaffer says. "And that really is one of the focuses for us here." Meanwhile just up the 401 healthcare providers are in a bit of a "unique situation." After declining an interview, Chatham-Kent Health Alliance CEO Colin Patey issued this statement to BlackburnNews.com: “I can say with certainty that we will not be supporting physician-assisted dying at the St. Joseph’s site." "However, we are an alliance of both faith and non-faith based corporations, which places us in a unique situation. While we respect and support our Catholic partners, we must also help our other boards fully understand and consider this issue. With the latter in mind, we are using the extension to allow the Mission and Quality Committee of the Board time to further consider and analyse this situation, particularly as it relates to the remainder of the alliance," Patey says.