When the country's health ministers arrived for their meeting this week in Vancouver they should have had at least two dog-eared documents in their carry-on luggage.The first is last summer's report by the parliamentary budget officer calling attention to the fragile state of provincial healthcare systems due in large part to Canada's growing demographic crunch.The second is the report we released last week calling for immediate action to fix glaring gaps in palliative care as Canada confronts a projected 40% increase in new cancer cases over the next 15 years.With a new national Health Accord on the agenda, the question now is whether federal, provincial and territorial governments will come to the table armed with innovative ideas and the political will to build a pan-Canadian approach that gets at the root of our growing health challenges.Meeting those challenges will take more than a chequebook. In fact, a money-only mindset will compound our problems by distracting governments from the chronic inefficiencies that threaten to turn healthcare into a fiscal black hole and harm the very people the system is meant to serve.In Canada palliative care exemplifies that danger. Provinces, territories and many regions are developing separate approaches, resulting in a patchwork of inconsistent and often inadequate care across the country, large numbers of patients being treated in acute and emergency care wards, and additional stress and suffering for them and their loved ones.As a result, about 45% of cancer patients die in acute care hospitals even though research shows that, given the choice, most Canadians would prefer to die at home.In Ontario, over 40% of cancer patients do not receive a palliative assessment in their last year of life.In some regions of Atlantic and Western Canada, fewer than half of people who die in a hospital receive palliative care.Not only are acute care settings not well equipped to provide the most appropriate care and support to palliative care patients and their families, but acute care services are considerably more expensive to deliver.According to the 2014 Ontario Auditor General's report, the costs of palliative care during the last month of life are $1,100 per day in an acute care hospital versus $770 per day in a palliative care unit in hospital, $460 per day in a hospice bed and under $100 per day in the home.This situation is unacceptable on both a human and financial level.In the face of spiralling costs it is essential for the provincial, territorial and federal governments to fix this broken system.Our report found that a number of barriers stand in the way of an efficient palliative care system – and funding is only one of them. In fact, we believe that investments in palliative care – if supported by the list of recommendations in our report – will produce a healthcare system that ultimately uses dollars more efficiently.High-quality palliative and end-of-life care is an essential component of the continuum of care and a right that must be guaranteed for all Canadians. It's time federal and provincial governments recognize this, beginning at their meeting this week in Vancouver.Pamela C. Fralick is President and CEO of the Canadian Cancer Society.