About Us

about us

About The Dorothy Ley Hospice

Founded in 1990, The Dorothy Ley Hospice is a volunteer-based community service organization offering compassionate care to people living with the challenges of a life-limiting illness or loss. Our programs meet their physical, emotional, spiritual and psychosocial needs, helping them to live life to the fullest. Our services are provided at no cost to the individual thanks to the generosity of our donors and community partners.

Hospices like ours build a bridge across health care services, offering quality end-of-life care that traditional services cannot provide in isolation. Located on the Trillium Health Partners site opposite Sherway Gardens Mall in Etobicoke, we provide service to residents of west Toronto, the Mississauga Halton region and to the broader healthcare community. Our network of partners and services extend across the Greater Toronto Area and as far north as Lake Simcoe.
We follow the model of palliative care excellence developed by Dr. Dorothy Ley. This philosophy forms the foundation for our Model of Care and is reflected in our Vision, Mission and Values. We strongly support an integrated approach to care focused squarely on the right of individual choice in determining how to address their unique needs and desires for support. The Hospice is a key contributor to the development of provincial standards for residential hospice care and for spiritual care. Our professionals and volunteers work together as a team with other community healthcare professionals and service providers.
The Dorothy Ley Hospice has two key programs — a Community Support Program where we provide support in people’s homes and a Residential Care Program where we provide 24-hour care in a home-like environment during people’s last weeks of life.
With our Community Support, we provide care coordination and in-home support to individuals diagnosed with a life-limiting illness who live in Etobicoke. Using an integrated approach, we work with community organizations and healthcare partners to meet the physical, emotional, spiritual and support needs of people who have been told they have less than a year to live. Through a needs assessment, we work with individuals and families to address their needs. The focus is always on individual choice. We also believe that end-of life care extends to the entire family and to those who have suffered a loss.

With our Residential Program, we offer 24-hour care in a home-like environment. The Palliative Care Centre has 12 private care suites and serves between 190 and 240 individuals a year. The Residential Program offers individual-centered end-of-life care that focuses on quality of life through holistic pain and symptom management and support. Care plans are developed for each individual based on his/her needs,
hopes and goals.

The Hospice’s services aim to allow death to occur naturally rather than prolong life or hasten death. Care is provided to individuals diagnosed with three-months or less to live. Our services are extended not only to the individual but also to family members and caregivers. Referrals are made by a physician or health care practitioner. An intake assessment is carried out and admission to the program is based on highest need. The program is open to people who live in or have family members living in the Greater Toronto Area. If the Hospice has a bed available and someone from outside the area is in need of care and meets the admission criteria, then they will be accepted into the program.
In addition to direct care, The Dorothy Ley Hospice trains volunteers and health care professionals on effective hospice palliative care and educates the general public about the benefits of hospice palliative care. Our care coordinators, who are experienced palliative care nurses and registered social workers, assess and monitor the needs of every individual and oversee the work of our volunteers.
We also offer an array of support programs and services using an Integrated Wellness approach that includes a variety of therapy options, a respite and day program, spiritual care and bereavement support.
Dorothy Ley Hospice Virtual Tour

Land Acknowledgement

The Dorothy Ley Hospice and the communities we serve are located on the traditional lands of several Indigenous nations: the Wendat, the Anishnaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Métis, and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.

The territory is governed by Treaty 13 and the Dish With One Spoon Covenant, which is an ongoing peace agreement between many Indigenous nations to share the land, taking no more than is needed, leaving enough for others, and taking care of the land for generations to come.

We acknowledge all who have been displaced by generations of international colonialism and are grateful for the Knowledge Keepers and Elders who are with us today, those who have gone before us and the youth that inspire us for tomorrow.

Image credit: GTD Aquitaine