Grand opening of Huron Shores Hospice suite set for April 11 in Tiverton

Huron Shores Hospice welcomes dignitaries, donors, sponsors and the media to the grand opening celebration of the one-bed residential hospice suite, located in Tiverton Park Manor, Wednesday, April 11, with the ribbon-cutting slated for 2 p.m.

“The grand opening is a community celebration of more than five years of planning and fund-raising, with the dream of providing quality end-of-life care being realized,” said Cheryl Cottrill, chairperson of the board of directors.

“This is very much a community achievement as we would not be opening this suite today without the tremendous support of our community. We celebrate with all our donors, sponsors, supporters and volunteers, the opening of our first residential hospice suite, providing quality end-of-life care to our community.”

The residential hospice suite bridges a serious gap in end-of-life care, said Cottrill. “This project is the result of a great deal of financial, in-kind and volunteer support from our community. No government funding is available for our hospice suite at this time, so the community has raised the entire operational and capital funding to open the suite.”

The Huron Shores Hospice board proudly invites the public to visit Tiverton Park Manor, Wednesday, April 11, from 6-8 p.m., to celebrate five-and-a-half years of planning and fund-raising, with the opening of the new one-bed residential suite. Come and see what your generosity has created!

Huron Shores Hospice is a charitable not-for-profit, volunteer-led, community-funded residential hospice, providing quality end-of-life care, at no cost, to residents of southern Bruce County. The hospice suite offers a home-like setting where people with life-limiting illnesses receive care and comfort. Huron Shores Hospice empowers these individuals to live well to the end of life by providing compassionate, dignified and holistic care in a comfortable home-like setting, while supporting their family members and friends.

Community volunteers began meeting in November, 2012, to bring a residential hospice to the Municipality of Kincardine, serving the residents of southern Bruce County. After much consultation and research, a three-phased business plan was developed:

PHASE I - ACHIEVED:
To open a one-bed residential hospice suite in Tiverton Park Manor in 2018. One bed will never be sufficient for the community need, but having this one bed provides the community with the opportunity to build expertise in hospice care, build awareness of what hospice care is all about, and take pressure off families who are struggling with end-of-life issues. The catchment area for the first bed serves residents of Kincardine, Huron-Kinloss and Saugeen Shores.

PHASE 2:
To open a second hospice suite in Tiverton Park Manor, when funding becomes available and the Manor has availability to host in 2019-20. The catchment area for a second suite would be expanded to include Arran-Elderslie, South Bruce and Brockton, if no residential hospice exists in these municipalities at the time of opening.

PHASE 3:
To develop a stand-alone three-bed residential hospice in the Municipality of Kincardine in 2021-22, possibly integrated as a satellite of an existing operational residential hospice. All hospice and palliative care services would be integrated into one facility to provide a full-service, single-access Centre of Excellence for Hospice and Palliative Care, should funding for additional programming become available.

SERVICES

The residential suite consists of a room for the resident, a private washroom, and a family room where family members can stay with their loved one. The suite will be staffed by Tiverton Park Manor professionals along with volunteers who will assist the family with comfort care. While nursing staff is not on site 24/7, there is 24/7 on-call coverage when the resident nurse is off-site. The medical director, Dr. Damian Gunaratne, provides care to residents in the hospice, in concert with the resident’s family physician.

An admission assessment tool will be reviewed by the medical director and a qualified registered nurse, to determine priority for access to the service. Because there is only one bed initially, there will surely be disappointments within the community: the bed will be provided to the person in the greatest need, according to a specific set of criteria.

The community has raised more than $400,000 for start-up costs and two years of operational funding. Phase 2 fund-raising efforts, to date, have garnered $20,000 of the $250,000 to add an additional suite. The money needed for the additional suite includes two years of operating expenses and the capital costs to furnish and equip the suite.

Huron Shores Hospice is operating its first hospice suite entirely through local community fund-raising and all funds raised to support the facility remain in the local communities. All donations made to Huron Shores Hospice stay in the community to provide quality end-of-life services to local residents.

To avoid confusion, it should be noted here that a separate six -bed residential hospice has been announced for southeastern Grey-Bruce, to be located between Mildmay, Walkerton and Hanover. These beds will be funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care through the South West Local Health Integration Network (LHIN).

The Huron Shores Hospice board of directors is pleased to see the hospice movement spreading into the neighbouring community. The board is excited to share with its neighbours the information it has garnered in its five-year journey and the expertise it has developed over the years.

HOW CAN PEOPLE HELP HURON SHORES HOSPICE?
 

• Pledge your financial support by donating on-line at www.huronshoreshospice.ca or by mailing your donation to Huron Shores Hospice, Box 262, Tiverton, Ontario, N0G 2T0. All donations are greatly appreciated. Tax receipts can be issued for donations over $20.
• Come out for dinner at Boston Pizza, Friday, April 27, between 5-8 p.m., and help support Huron Shores Hospice, with 10 per cent of all food orders being donated to the local hospice project.
• Participate in the Hike for Hospice, Saturday, May 12, by walking and obtaining sponsors for the walk. More details are available at www.huronshoreshospice.ca.
• Attend the Handbags for Hospice event, Sept. 20.
• Spread the word to family and friends about the initiative and the Hearts for Hospice fund-raising campaign
• Volunteer – volunteer on one of the committees: Fund-raising, Governance or Finance, or provide comfort care in the hospice or help with administration and clerical work
• Donate – through planned giving and memorial donations