qathet Regional Hospital District directors recently heard about efforts in the community to establish a hospice house.
At the August 26 qRHD board meeting, Four Tides Hospice Society president Malerie Meeker said she wanted to bring directors up to date on hospice services and the development of a hospice house.
She said Four Tides is a registered charity and that hospice has been in Powell River for almost 30 years. She said in 2014, the provincial government started pushing for communities to build standalone hospice facilities. To that end, through the BC Palliative Care Association, money was sent to various committees, according to Meeker.
“Here in Powell River, we formalized and became a nonprofit society and received $400,000 in seed money to develop a hospice,” said Meeker.
She said people sometimes get hospice and palliative care confused. She said palliative care is the medical care of people at end of life. She said hospice care is social, emotional and spiritual care.
“When they come together, it can make that journey at end of life quite significant,” added Meeker.
She said the society has a philosophy that centres on being inclusive, supporting the individual in hospice care in the way they want to be supported. She added that volunteers go into people’s homes, long-term care or wherever the person is, if they want hospice to assist.
Meeker said the society has a memorandum of understanding signed with Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH), which means if the society builds the hospice, VCH will run it, providing all the operational costs.
Four Tides has a good working relationship with City of Powell River, and city staff have been directed to look at potential property for the hospice to be built on, according to Meeker.
The society provides services to more than 300 community members each year, on average. More than 50 volunteers are trained to provide emotional, social, practical, spiritual assistance and bereavement support to all the referrals. Meeker said the volunteers receive ongoing professional development and support.
Funding comes from a variety of sources, including fundraising, donations and contributions from governmental sources. Meeker said Four Tides is currently partnering with the city and VCH to build a four- to eight-bed hospice house.
“Right now, we have about $2 million committed to the project,” said Meeker. “There is $1.2 million committed from the qathet Regional Hospital District, $400,000 from the BC government, $130,000 from the Powell River Health-Care Auxiliary for furnishing, and some other commitments.
“The big community fundraising campaign will be launched once we have established new architectural plans. Funding hospice is an idea whose time has come. People are starting to understand that the way we as a society deal with death hasn’t worked. It’s the only service that affects every one of us. We need to shift the way we think about death.”
Meeker said that post-COVID-19, the hospice society undertook a large community engagement campaign and knows it has broad support for building a facility.
“Our ask is that you join with the city, join with VCH, join with Four Tides, and become a partner in this initiative by reconfirming your commitment for some of the capital costs for the facility,” said Meeker.
Electoral Area A director Jason Lennox asked if the hospice society would be able to continue home-based services, coupled with a new hospice.
Meeker said most people do want to die at home, and the society will continue to support people in their homes, but if the medical condition is so complex that they can’t manage pain or personal care, that’s when someone could go into a hospice. She said every room would have family accommodations as well.
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