Manitoba family calls for hospice care in Interlake-Eastern health region

A Manitoba family is calling for the expansion of hospice and palliative care services in the Interlake-Eastern Health Region after a loved one with a terminal illness was sent to a nursing home because no hospice care was available.

Victoria Porayk said her family faced overwhelming uncertainty while trying to navigate the health-care system during her mother’s final months.

“I need help and I don’t have it and that’s not the uncertainty you should have at that time. You’ve already got enough,” said Victoria Porayk, who is calling for hospice care in the Interlake region.

Porayk said her mother had been a healthy 67-year-old before being diagnosed with cancer that later metastasized to her brain. She said the progression of the illness led to repeated hospital stays and ultimately left the family with few care options.

“She was a healthy 67-year-old and then she wasn’t  and that’s not where a 67-year-old should be,” said Porayk.

Porayk said her mother’s illness involved frequent late-night calls, falls and hospital visits. Prior to being moved into a nursing home, she said her mother had two separate two-month hospital stays, both related to falls.

Eventually, Porayk said she was forced to make a painful decision.

“I decided: ‘Okay, I can’t take you home anymore because I don’t have the capacity to care not only for a palliative patient, but a brain injury as well,’” said Porayk.

The last time Porayk’s mother was taken to Selkirk hospital was in October 2024, following a two-month stay. The family was then told they would need to look for other options for care.

That is when they learned there was no hospice care available in the Interlake area and that a nursing home would be the only option.

“It’s harder, it’s palliative and you know that, and you know that it’s hard to look at your loved one like that. And to go home and to take that person home with you. You don’t get to sleep at night. And that’s… how do you put that weight on an already grieving family,” said Porayk.

Sheila Kaltenberger, an advocate and family friend, said she helped Porayk navigate the system and raised concerns about the level of care available at the nursing home.

“Her medications were not containing her pain. She was in an awful lot of pain, sobbing for long periods of the day. And I don’t mean sobbing just crying quietly, like you could hear her all the way down the hall. So then they started almost closing her door, so that the other residents didn’t hear her crying,” said Sheila Kaltenberger, an advocate.

After three weeks in the nursing home, Kaltenberger said friends and family tried to find hospice care in Winnipeg but were told they could not access facilities within the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.

“It was unbelievable. I could not believe that this is all that we had to offer for any adult in our region if the families are not able to maintain the care at home,” said Kaltenberger.

In a statement, the Interlake-Eastern Health Region said equitable access to palliative care requires a broader approach.

“Given the geographical realities and a widely dispersed population in the Interlake-Eastern health region, equitable access to palliative care requires a regional, integrated approach rather than a single-location solution,” the statement said.

Kaltenberger launched a petition in March 2025 calling for the expansion of palliative care in the Interlake-Eastern Health Region. She said municipalities have signed resolutions in support of the petition and that she has met with a representative of the health minister.

“It’s a missing need. Some people are under the assumption that we do have this. You shouldn’t have to sort this out individually when you are going through that in your life with your loved ones,” said Kaltenberger.

The Minister of Health told CityNews in a statement:

“Hospice and palliative care are pillars of end-of-life planning. For too long, capacity in Manitoba, including in Interlake-Eastern, did not keep pace with growing need, leaving real gaps for people at the most vulnerable moments of their lives. Under the previous government, Manitoba declined to participate in the Canadian Cancer Society’s 2023 national review of hospice and palliative care, missing a critical opportunity to assess gaps, compare capacity, and plan improvements alongside other provinces. That missed planning has had lasting consequences for families.

Our government is changing course. Manitoba now has a dedicated provincial team focused on palliative and end-of-life care, working with frontline providers, health regions, and families to strengthen care planning and improve access. A provincial subcommittee is finalizing a three-year work plan that includes implementing national palliative-care standards, expanding training for care teams, and supporting new initiatives in long-term care and community settings.

We will continue working closely with Interlake-Eastern Health Region to better understand local needs and to strengthen palliative and hospice services, so families are supported with dignity, compassion, and continuity of care. This is deeply personal work, and we are committed to getting it right.”