More patients asking to die at home

People as old as 101 and as young as 35 have undergone medically assisted death in Ontario since it was legalized last year. And growing numbers are having the procedure at home.

As of the end of February, 305 assisted deaths had taken place in Ontario, according to statistics from the office of the chief coroner. The vast majority involved cancer patients. About one-third of cases involved people who had other underlying conditions, including ALS.

As of the end of February, more Ontario cases had taken place in hospitals than in private residences — 168 in hospital compared with 110 in private residences. But that trend is changing as more people request medical assistance in death in their homes, according to officials.

Ottawa, which has had the second highest number of assisted deaths in the province, is also seeing an increase in the number of procedures taking place outside of hospitals, according to Dr. Louise McNaughton-Fillion, regional supervising coroner for the East Region.

As of the end of March, there had been 44 assisted deaths performed in Ottawa, second in the province only to Toronto with 91 during the same period.

Not only are more procedures occurring outside of hospitals, but the rate of assisted deaths in Ottawa has increased in recent months. As of the end of December, there had been 18 medically assisted deaths in Ottawa since it became legal in June 2016. Of those, 14 were in hospitals. As of March 23, said McNaughton-Fillion, that number had grown to 42 assisted deaths (by the end of that month that number had risen again to 44), and of those, 27 occurred inside a hospital, and 15 were not in hospitals.

Part of that shift away from hospitals is due to a growing network of medical and community expertise.

The Champlain Community Care Access Centre, which coordinates home care services, provides clinical support to physicians administering medication to patients in their homes as part of medically assisted death. It also offers “therapeutic emotional support to families,” according to spokesperson Jennifer Schenkel.

Part of the CCAC’s role, she said, is to coordinate the procedure for patients who meet the criteria and wish to have it done in their home.

Volunteers from the Ottawa chapter of Dying with Dignity have also stepped forward to volunteer as witnesses to assist people wanting to have the procedure done in their homes, said chapter chair Susan Desjardins.

She said hospitals have been developing expertise and solidifying their policies since medical assistance in death was legalized and now there is more effort to reach out to people who wish to have the procedure in their homes.

Dr. Sanjay Acharya, MAID physician at Queensway Carleton Hospital, said the hospital has been asked to help The Ottawa Hospital with the procedure in some cases. In others, patients have requested an assessment through their physician or might get information through the hospital’s website.

Once the required assessment and reflection period is complete, he said, some patients have said they want the procedure right away, others have said they’ll let the hospital know when they’re ready. epayne@postmedia.com