With a projected opening later this year, Hospice of Elgin will be a 17,000 sq. ft. one-floor facility at 8 South Edgeware Road in St. Thomas.It will provide wrap-around care to individuals (and their families) at end-of-life in a welcoming ‘cottage-like’ setting. Hospice is about comfort, quality of life and care. This includes addressing pain and symptoms, while also supporting the psycho-social, spiritual, and practical needs of the individual.
Executive Director Brenda Fleming appeared before city council this past Monday (May 12) to present an update on what is affectionately known as ‘The Cottage.’
She was accompanied by Robert Furneaux, board chair.
Fleming began, “Today, hospice is known as a construction site more than it is a hub of care, which it will transition into in only a few short months.
“Tucked away in the woods, overlooking Waterworks Park, on precious land that was so generously donated by the city of St. Thomas and this caring council. A place we’re enormously proud of, and to say that this will become the heart of hospice.”
In truly Canadian fashion, Fleming drew on the warm memories associated with cottage life.
“Cottages are traditional places where family and friends gather, an opportunity to connect with nature, where life slows down to focus on what matters most and spending time with those you love.
“At hospice, our noble purpose is to ensure those moments are not only possible, but matter. All the while, exceptional heartfelt care for individuals and their families at end of life.
“Hospice of Elgin is about treating people, not as a diagnosis or a timeline. It is a full, vibrant, unique human being with stories to tell, favourite songs to sing, and strong opinions about what makes the perfect cup of coffee or bowl of soup.”
“When people hear the words end of life and the care associated with it, it can feel heavy, overwhelming, and even downright scary. Though if you’ll kindly bear with us for just a few moments, perhaps we can ease some of those perceptions and alter your perspective.
“There’s so much more to this part of life than most people realize. Much love, joy, and even moments of laughter can happen at hospice. So we hope our presentation today anchors end-of-life care in a whole new light for each of you. So much so that you’re moved to share this message with others.”
“She continued, “For many, just thinking about hospice may bring up images of hushed voices, dim lighting, and a general feeling of gloom and foreboding.
“But here’s the thing, Hospice of Elgin is not just about care in the final days of life’s journey. It’s about the heart of living. It’s about making every moment matter, wrapping people in comfort, and surrounding them with care, love, and, yes, even a little bit of humour.
“Hospice of Elgin is about treating people, not as a diagnosis or a timeline. It is a full, vibrant, unique human being with stories to tell, favourite songs to sing, and strong opinions about what makes the perfect cup of coffee or bowl of soup.
“It’s a place where all the little things truly matter and remain cherished. Perhaps it’s a shared memory, an assuring or comforting touch of the hand, or that one humorous inside story that makes everybody laugh. It’s where families can just be families, not nurses, not caregivers, not visitors, but just together.”
“We’ve taken to calling this environmental initiative our way of further wrapping nature’s arms around those we care for and support.”
Fleming stressed, “Creating an environment where individuals can live their best life to the end of life would not have been possible without the extremely generous gift of nature-bound land the cottage now rests on, and the financial support which influenced others to become part of our capital campaign.
“While we’ve shared this before, it bears repeating. Thank you to everyone around this council table and to all the residents and taxpayers of the city of St. Thomas for these most transformative gifts.”
Fleming then led those in attendance on a walk-through of The Cottage.
The in-facility residence will feature 10 private suites.
The palliative care clinical hub will serve 400 to 500 palliative individuals and their families each year on an outpatient or day hospice basis.
Services such as grief and bereavement, pain and symptom management, and day programming for those wishing to remain at home will all be offered from the hub, supported by a professional hospice team and local integrated partners.
The heart of hospice is ingrained in the middle of the facility, where spaces for residents and families come to feel at home or in a cottage-like environment.
And then, landing spaces for staff, care team and volunteers.
The facility will offer more than 30 opportunities for staff and will recruit around 200 volunteers.
The location of the structure and construction was undertaken to minimize the loss of existing trees.
“In the same respect for nature,” added Fleming, “hospice will be planting an additional 40 trees once construction is complete, further enhancing the leafy canopy the site so beautifully rests in.
“We’ve taken to calling this environmental initiative our way of further wrapping nature’s arms around those we care for and support.”
On the financial side, Fleming explained, “Our project financial needs under the unpredictable stresses and challenges of an ever-shifting economy grew to $17 million, with an additional $1.6 million required for furniture and equipment.
“Over 1,100 donors have contributed to Hospice. While we’ve not yet achieved our critical target, we’re confident we’ll get there with the amazing support of our greater Elgin community, hopefully during the public phase of our capital campaign, which was launched earlier this month.”
The floor was opened to members of council for questions, and you knew Coun. Steve Peters would jump at the opportunity.
“Did the county ever make a contribution to the project?” he asked.
Following up with, “I know the estate of Marianne Barrie made a significant contribution to the project on behalf of the Barrie family and I’m just curious how the Barries will be recognized?”
Fleming advised, “We’re still in conversations and discussions with Elgin County council relative to their support and again relative to the about 60 per cent of the service load that we would be taking from residents of Elgin County.
“Unfortunately, we’re not at the point where we can share that/ We are equal partners in this, but that does not mean that within time we will be able to bring them on as the partnership that the City of St. Thomas has shown us.
“With respect to the Barrie estate, there will be further news coming on that front. They have been a very big part of our campaign, and that will definitely show in what you will be hearing about relative to their participation in our hospice.”
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A POTENTIAL LIFE-SAVING DIRECTION FOR THE CITY
While not unheard of, members of city council generally do not ignore the recommendations contained in reports from city staff.
Such was not the case this past Monday (May 12) when members dealt with the Ryan Davies Project, related to water safety in the Lake Margaret area.
The report was authored by Jeff Bray, Director of Parks, Recreation and Facilities, and he recommended that the city not proceed with the development of a Personal Floatation Device Bylaw or the installation of ring buoys around Lake Margaret.
Let’s look at what prompted Bray’s report and motion to council.
What began as a pleasant morning of fishing on Lake Margaret this past Labour Day quickly turned tragic when a canoe holding three friends tipped over.Two people were rescued; however, after a day-long search, the body of 26-year-old Ryan Davies was recovered.
That incident spurred Davies’ mother, Linda King, into action.
It is not believed they were wearing life jackets, and so King wants to establish a life jacket loaner program.
“It’s really important to me, with what happened with Ryan, I don’t want anything like this to happen again.
“And, unfortunately, from everything I’ve been hearing, life jackets are just not something that has been pushed.”
“I have been to countless hotels, resorts, beaches, and I just think that anything that we can do to help potentially save a life is something that we should do.”
We wrote at length about this back in January of this year, and you can read that post here.
So Bray noted in his report, “Legal counsel has advised that the city has the authority to establish a bylaw requiring the use of PFDs (personal flotation devices) on pleasure watercraft on waters within the municipal boundary, e.g. Lake Margaret.
“Establishing such a bylaw will create a new area of risk for which the municipality may experience liability claims. Conversely, legal counsel also advised that the city will not incur liability if it elects not to establish such a bylaw.”
It first appeared that members of council would heed this recommendation.
However Coun. Steve Peters observed, “I want to speak in support of this, not withstanding the way the report is written.
“I have been to countless hotels, resorts, beaches, and I just think that anything that we can do to help potentially save a life is something that we should do.
“And notwithstanding the concerns that have been expressed, I do support the installation of a series of buoys around Lake Margaret.”
Coun. Gary Clarke added, “I was just wondering if we could get some further comment on how this project would differ from the exposure you have if you put a defibrillator in an arena or whether when you, as Coun. Peters mentioned, go to Port Stanley, and there are rings at the bottom of the lifeguard’s chairs and things like that.
“And how do those other communities, how are they able to support themselves legally, and how do we do it with the arena and things that we put in there?”
Bray responded, “The defibrillators are always in place, so we understand they’re there. Staff are trained on them. There are instructions within the defibrillators on how to use them.
“Through legal counsel, they’ve recommended that if we are providing these ring buoys and the public expects them there, we have to ensure that they’re always available.
“There’s also, from what I’ve got from our insurance provider and legal counsel, limited abilities given the size of the lake that the ring buoys would actually be effective.
“And also, the size of the lake and staggering them (the buoys) so they’re always available. That was a concern of legal counsel as well.
“So there’s just constant maintenance to make sure they are available and they’re in a working condition.”
Coun. Peters requested a recorded vote, and the motion to proceed with the personal flotation device bylaw and ring buoys passed by a 5-3 vote.
Councillors Jim Herbert, Rose Gibson and Jeff Kohler were opposed.
Mayor Joe Preston was absent from the meeting.
ABSENCE OF AN ACCESSIBILITY MINISTER IS ‘INCREDIBLY UNSETTLING’
Prime Minister Mark Carney introduced his new 28-member cabinet this week, which includes 10 first-time MPs.
Restored portfolios include Women and Gender Equality and Official Languages, while Secretaries of State were named for Labour and Children and Youth.
However, disability advocates have raised concerns about the continued absence of a minister or secretary specifically responsible for accessibility.
And that caught the eye of Amanda Stark, a member of the local municipal disability committee and someone, she advises, “who has a documented disability and history of struggling with equity in municipal, provincial, and federally managed spaces.”
Stark, who has campaigned as a member of the Green Party, issued a statement on Friday dealing with the lack of a minister responsible for accessibility, something she calls “incredibly unsettling.”She writes, “It is a blow to the system which we have worked so hard to strengthen over the past decade, especially considering PM Carney chose to ‘instead’ prioritize a Minister of Sport. If that isn’t the epitome of ‘ableism,’ I don’t know what is.
“We have a very active Disability Committee in St. Thomas, which also works in conjunction with the Disability Committee of Central Elgin.
“For a country and province and municipality that claimed to have had a goal of being ‘accessible,’ with policies prioritizing several equity-seeking groups over the past decade, this is truly a disheartening decision, which I believe will set us back in our attempt to be AODA (Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act) compliant by a specific date.
“My local efforts might not have been successful in electing a representative who will listen to me, though, I’m open to being proven wrong on that – but I’m hopeful that our local communities will continue to prioritize advocacy for people with disabilities.
“For instance, I am thrilled to see the latest update to Little Beach in Port Stanley that includes a path across the sand for improved access to the water for all.
“This is the kind of space I want to live in! Perhaps our area can become a leader in the realm of accessibility rather than following the lead of our Prime Minister, who seems to be actively working against the needs of community members with disabilities.
“I, for one, will continue to use my voice and connections for the betterment of our demographic as much as I can. I hope you will join me.”
You can reach out to Amanda Stark at stark.amanda@ymail.com
THE ECHO CHAMBER
A couple of brief remarks were submitted in response to last week’s item on the need for a new hospital to serve the area.
Karen Louise had this observation.
“One of the best community hospitals around. Very fortunate.”
Chris Smith-Heidt concurred.
“We have been well-treated at our local hospital.”
And after successfully electing Andrew Lawton, reader Kevin Smith has now turned his attention to city council in St. Thomas.
“I wish Karen Davies good luck in her quest to fund and build a new hospital. These large capital projects will become rarer in the future as all three levels of government are fiscally incompetent and, as a result, have put the taxpayers in catastrophic debt. There won’t be money for them.
“Just look at St. Thomas city council’s track record. They haven’t balanced a budget without raising municipal taxes in over 30 years.
“Now Joe Preston and the rest of council are putting taxpayers on the hook to the county for millions of dollars because of the poor decision to build a battery plant for which there will be no market.
“Just look at CAMI and all the battery plants which are closing south of the border.
“Apparently, we still haven’t found the cure for liberalism. Another fine example of this is the Aspire cricket plant in London, going into receivership even though (Justin) Trudeau gave this company $9 million. Who would have thought there wasn’t a market for eating crickets, gross.
“Brainiacs, I tell you!”
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