After a years-long journey, residents of St. Thomas and Elgin now have access to a hospice providing care beyond beds.
Last week, the stunningly beautiful and painstakingly detailed Barrie Family Hospice of Elgin overlooking Waterworks Park in St. Thomas officially opened.
From the glass waterfall inside to the fire pit outside, surrounded by Muskoka chairs, the facility truly deserves to be known as The Cottage.
At the official opening Friday, myFM spoke with Executive Director Brenda Fleming about the new chapter in compassionate, end-of-life care for area families.
Fleming continued, “We’ve tried to, in a very respectful way, make sure that everyone that comes through these doors knows that this is a community resource that has been developed. It’s been developed by community for community. And we are community members that are caring for each other within these walls.
“And that feeling and that wraparound, even our visual identity of the Barrie Family Hospice of Elgin is that wraparound heart. And we really want people to feel that when they come through our doors, that the community is wrapping their arms around them and supporting them at the most vulnerable time of their lives.”
Supporting them in a cottage-like setting.
Construction of the bright and airy structure was completed in a remarkably short period of time, advised Fleming.
“From the time the shovels went into the ground until we moved into the facility, it was approximately a year, just over a year, probably about 13 or 14 months.
“But years and years of design and planning went into the construction of this facility. Years and years of fundraising and garnering community support to make this a reality.”
However, stressed Fleming, it was critically important that The Cottage not have an institutional feel.
For Laura Sherwood, Director of Hospice Partnerships with St. Joseph’s Health Care in London, The Cottage is nothing short of transformational for the community.
Sherwood continued, “So, you know, our whole cottage design, we often get questions saying, well, who came up with that?
While hospice may be viewed as end-of-life care, its function may also incorporate the celebration of life.
“So when we started this project,” explained Sherwood, “it was not just about the end-of-life piece and building beds. That is one important part of hospice care.
“But we saw an opportunity in this community, being that we’re the last in the region to get a hospice, to do things differently.”
When fully operational, the facility will employ about 40 people, advised Fleming.
“That is our administrative team as well as our clinical care team. We do have registered nurses, registered practical nurses, PSWs, housekeeping, food services, chefs, as well as our administrative and fundraising development teams. But what’s going to make it work is going to be the volunteers.
“Hospices are largely volunteer-run organizations. When all of our services and programming is up and running, we anticipate we’re probably going to have a need for approximately 200 volunteers in areas such as:
- Reception
- Direct service volunteers who will work alongside the nurses and PSWs delivering care
- Things like gardening and additional housekeeping
- Fundraising, which will continue to be a very, very important part of our future.
“So we will need approximately 200 volunteers all told. Today we have approximately 40 to 45. We are continuing to actively recruit volunteers and look forward to having members of the community join us in the journey.”
For more information, or to volunteer, visit http://www.elginhospice.com.
Written by Ian McCallum
