Saanich, B.C. shop promises equipment for vulnerable people in need of end-of-life support

Vancouver Island Medical Supply in Saanich is shown: (CTV News)

A Saanich-based shop has committed to sourcing, supplying, and installing equipment like handrails and chairlifts for people living in shelters, supportive housing units, or wherever there is a need.

Vancouver Island Medical Supply has teamed up with the Palliative Outreach Resource Team (PORT), which provides end-of-life support to individuals in marginalized housing situations.

"So PORT will have access to some of these big-ticket items as well as some of the small stuff like pads for beds and handrails for bathrooms – and some of those things, you know, we take for granted that are additional costs at the end of life," said PORT program manager, Ashley Mollison.

For about a decade, PORT has been acting as a bridge between people with serious illness and their caregivers.

"PORT serves people that don’t necessarily have a home, don’t necessarily have support people, and have money for those additional pieces of medical equipment and supplies," said Mollison.

Now the team will be able to offer important medical equipment that will help people live out their final days in their own homes.

"A lot of times people are forced out of their homes in their communities because of a lack of equipment and supplies that allows them to age in place," said Mollison.

"So that means people end up going to long-term care or going to hospitals," she said. "So, this just increases PORT’s capacity to say, 'Hey, you need this? I have this.'"

The PORT initiative is a partnership between the University of Victoria, Island Health, Cool Aid Society, and now Vancouver Island Medical Supply.

The new partnership builds on an existing relationship with the medical supply shop.

Back in 2020, the Pacific Blue Cross Health Foundation awarded UVic’s Palliative Approaches to Care Research Program with $10,000 to help with this initiative. At that time, Vancouver Island Medical Supply also contributed $7,500.