Get support
If you or a patient you support is in need of our service, please submit a referral form. A physician referral is required for a palliative care physician or to access the hospice residence. If you have questions or need help, please call our community care navigator at 416-626-0116 ext. 233.
Dorothy Ley Hospice requires physcian referrals for two main services:
- Residential care for end of life
- Access to the Dorothy Ley Hospice Community Physican Team
The referral process for each of these services is different, so please review the information below. Individuals can self-refer for psycho-social support for patients, family and caregivers, and for grief and bereavement supports, or you can complete the referral form with them. Choose the ‘refer yourself’ tab above to access the self-referral forms for those services.
If you have questions or need help, please call our community care navigator at 416-626-0116 ext. 233.
Refer your patient to the residence for end of life
Residential care is offered to individuals who are 18 years or older and:
- Have a prognosis of less than three months
- Have a Palliative Performance Scale (PPS) of 40% or less
- Recognize that resuscitation is not a service that we provide
- Understand that no extensive diagnostics or treatments are offered other than those required for symptom and pain management and comfort measures
- Live in or have family members who live in the Greater Toronto Area
Exceptions to these criteria may be assessed on a case by case basis. To start the referral process, complete the referral form and fax the completed form to 416-626-7285. You will receive a fax confirmation.
Residential care referral form
Refer your patient to the Dorothy Ley Hospice Community Physician Team
The Dorothy Ley Hospice Community Physician Team provides in-home palliative care to patients with life-limiting illnesses (both cancer and non-cancer diagnoses). We are a group of palliative care physicians who focus on pain and symptom management to improve quality of life and end-of-life planning.
We practice in the following models:
- Consultation only
- Shared care with family physician
- Becoming the “most responsible physician” (MRP)
We work in an interdisciplinary model involving:
- Care coordination
- Psychosocial support
- Grief and bereavement support
- Homecare support through the LHINs.
We are available on OTN for eConsults and can provide telephone consults to a referring physician. We also run a weekly palliative ambulatory clinic at the hospice centre. There are specific requirements to be eligible for this services from the Dorothy Ley Hospice Community Physicians program.
To refer a patient, complete the appropriate form and fax it to 647-689-5880.
Palliative physician referral form
To be eligible for care with the Dorothy Ley Hospice Community Physician Team and ambulatory care clinic, individuals must reside within the following geographic catchment area:
Mississauga
East: Etobicoke Creek
North: Hwy 401
West: Hurontario St
South: Lake Ontario
Etobicoke
East: Humber River
North: Lawrence Ave W, The Westway
West: Etobicoke Creek
South: Lake Ontario
Toronto*
East: Jameson Ave, Lansdowne Ave, Greenlaw Ave, Caledonia Rd
North: Eglinton Ave W (the northern edge follows Weston Rd from Eglinton Ave up to Clouston Ave)
West: Humber River
South: Lake Ontario
The community physician team is not a home-visiting physician service for housebound patients without a life-limiting illness or limited prognosis who are unable to attend clinical appointments. Services like these already exist, so please direct your patient to them if appropriate. We also do not provide medical assistance in dying (“MAID”), so please do not refer to us solely for this purpose.
Research has shown that early involvement of palliative care in the context of life-limiting illness can improve patient outcomes and quality of life. However, in order to prevent inappropriate referrals, the general eligibility criteria for a referral to our team is a patient who has the following:
- Anticipated prognosis of less than 1 year with PPS less than or equal to 60%
- Life-limiting cancer OR non-cancer diagnosis (end-stage COPD, CHF, renal failure, dementia, etc)
- Must be receiving LHIN services (exceptions are made for non-OHIP patients)
We receive a high number of palliative referrals each week from hospitals, specialist clinics, and family physicians. Each referral is triaged according to medical urgency, prognosis, symptom severity, palliative performance scale rating (PPS).
- While we try our best to accommodate urgent referrals quickly, the wait time for an initial intake visit can be up to four weeks.
- Please note that the referring physician/clinic must remain responsible for supporting the patient until the referral is accepted by a Dorothy Ley Hospice community physician.
- Once a patient has been admitted to the service, they may access our 24/7 on-call line for telephone support.
- If a patient improves and no longer meets our referral criteria, they will be discharged back to their family physician.
To refer a patient, complete the appropriate form and fax it to 647-689-5880.
Palliative physician referral form