Tell us about how Casey House came to be and the people behind its foundation. 

Casey House has a long and proud history in Toronto. Founded by a group of intrepid volunteers led by journalist and activist June Callwood, Casey House opened in 1988 during the height of the AIDS epidemic. It was Canada’s first stand-alone facility for people living with HIV/AIDS, and Ontario’s first free-standing hospice.  

In those early years, Casey House created new approaches to palliative care, playing a leading role in both end-of-life care and HIV/AIDS health care, delivered in a welcoming and homelike environment. Back then, the average life expectancy for people living with AIDS was nine months, people living with HIV were frequently ostracized from family and friends due to stigma and were often left to die alone. In contrast, Casey House believed our clients deserved dignity, compassion and respect. The first client was greeted with a warm hug, it was the first time he had been touched in months. 

“We wanted Casey House to be a place where people who were dying would feel loved, and get hugged.” – Margaret McBurney, co-founder of Casey House. 

Over the years Casey House has evolved from a hospice facility to a specialty hospital. Can you talk about this change and how it responded to the needs of the community it serves? 

As medical advances improved HIV treatment and outcomes, Casey House evolved and grew from a hospice into a specialty hospital providing ground-breaking care to people living with and at risk of HIV.  

Today, Casey House remains a warm and welcoming place, where compassionate, judgment-free and socially-just health care is delivered. As leaders advancing HIV health care, we offer new services to meet the changing and complex needs of clients. Despite advancements in medication, there is a continuing need for HIV health care in Canada. HIV continues to be diagnosed, particularly in communities impacted by the social and structural determinants of health. In addition to a 14-bed inpatient unit for people requiring 24/7 medical care, there is a robust outpatient program for people who can benefit from a range of health services and social supports. The services are continually adapted to the needs of our clients, notably our winter warm-up and summer cool-down programs, supervised consumption services, and our harm reduction kit distribution services are heartily welcomed by our clients.  

Building on a legacy of advocacy and social justice, we actively dismantle barriers to care and safe living. We provide a community and sense of belonging that connects people to care they may not have been able to access elsewhere.  

Together with our clients, staff, peers and volunteers, we strive to create an inclusive environment where everyone feels safe. The humanity of each client is at the heart of everything we do. 

What are the services that Casey House offers? 

Casey House provides inpatient and outpatient care. The inpatient unit has fourteen private rooms and a team of nurses, doctors, a clinical pharmacist, and allied health professionals, including a social worker, case manager, physiotherapist and an occupational therapist. Together, the interdisciplinary team provides 24-hour sub-acute care for illnesses and infection, stabilization, HIV comorbidities, and end-of-life care.  

We also provide outpatient services for clients with complex health needs. Staff work with clients to build their resilience towards wellness and health outcomes they want to achieve. These services consist of one-on-one appointments and group sessions from an interdisciplinary clinical team such as registered nurses, physiotherapy, recreational therapy, social work, case management, mental health clinicians, and massage therapists.  

The clinical team builds relationships through a harm reduction approach, and in 2021, opened Ontario’s first hospital-based supervised consumption service for clients who use substances. 

Finally, the Blue Door Clinic provides health care to people living with HIV in the greater Toronto area who are uninsured or precariously insured (who have limited or no access to health insurance). Clients in this clinic receive access to HIV medication, support and referrals to community resources. 

How does someone become a patient or register for the services at Casey House? 

Anyone can refer someone to become a Casey House client, there are links to both inpatient and outpatient referral forms on our website caseyhouse.ca 

Incoming clients register through an intake process and are assessed before being admitted as an inpatient or receiving care as an outpatient for group programming, SCS, and individual appointments with a nurse practitioner, nurses and allied health; drop-in is available at the front door for picking up harm reduction supplies and connecting with a nurse. 

Do the staff receive any specialty training to best serve the community? 

Absolutely, clinicians engage in regular training and upgrading, and the full staff complement receives both specific training for hospital-related standards such as infection, prevention and control, and education in broader concepts, such as harm reduction and eliminating anti-Indigenous racism. 

Does Casey House still offer any hospice care, end-of-life care or education/guidance? 

Casey House provides end-of-life care as part of inpatient care, and also provides MAID (medical assistance in dying) for clients who have been assessed and deemed eligible. Two of the physicians on staff specialize in palliative care and one is a MAID provider.  

Is there anything we didn’t discuss that you would want people to know about Casey House? 

Casey House is the first hospital in Ontario to have on-site supervised consumption services, and has the first indoor supervised inhalation.