FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Canada’s First Hospice Residence Built on Jewish Values and open to all appoints Dr. Russell Goldman as Inaugural Medical Director
One of Canada’s foremost palliative care physicians joins North York’s first hospice residence currently under construction, to lead clinical vision for exceptional end-of-life care
April 27, 2026 (North York, ON) — Neshama Hospice is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Russell Goldman as its inaugural Medical Director. Dr. Goldman brings nearly three decades of clinical leadership, research, and systems-level expertise to this role, and will guide Neshama’s clinical model as it prepares to open its doors in early 2027.
Among Canada’s most respected voices in palliative and end-of-life care, Dr. Goldman has served as Director of the Temmy Latner Centre for Palliative Care at Mount Sinai Hospital, Director of the Interdepartmental Division of Palliative Care at Sinai Health, Palliative Care Clinical Co-Lead for Ontario Health (Toronto Region), and earlier, as Medical Director of Palliative Care for the Toronto Central CCAC. He holds an MD from the University of Toronto, a Master of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto.
Throughout his career, Dr. Goldman has championed integrated, patient-centred care across home, hospital, and residential settings, with a consistent focus on expanding access to quality end-of-life care and supporting family caregivers. His appointment to Neshama reflects that mission — and his recognition of a critical gap in Toronto’s care landscape. Currently Ontario has fewer than 3.5 hospice beds per 100,000 people: dramatically below the recommended standard of seven beds per 100,000. In North York, one of the largest boroughs in Toronto, there are currently zero hospice residence beds*.
Hospice residence offers the clinical support of a dedicated care environment with the warmth of feeling at home — a genuine alternative for individuals who cannot or choose not to die at home, and one that too few Torontonians have been able to access. Equally central to Neshama’s model is its commitment to the family and chosen family of every person in its care, providing wraparound support for all those grieving alongside their loved ones.
“Russell brings the clinical leadership and depth to shape exceptional care, and the systems thinking to integrate meaningfully across our healthcare continuum — building something lasting and transformative. His unwavering commitment to the choice that hospice residence presents, to dignity, and to the families and chosen families of every person in our care will leave a profound mark on how we shape end-of-life care for everyone who counts on Neshama,” said Lisa Kronenberg, Executive Director, Neshama Hospice.
Dr. Goldman echoed that vision: “Hospice, at its best, offers something profound: the safety and support of a full care environment, with the warmth and dignity of feeling at home. It also addresses one of the most significant gaps in end-of-life care — support for the family and chosen family. At the end of life, it is not only the person dying who needs care. Neshama is built to provide that holistic care.”
Neshama Hospice, currently under construction, will be North York’s first hospice residence and Canada’s first hospice built on Jewish values and open to all. Neshama Hospice is committed to exceptional, holistic, end-of-life care. Learn more at www.neshamahospice.com
– 30 –
For more information contact:Laura Mandell, Director Development & Communications laura.mandell@neshamahospice.com
