‘A much needed resource:’ Elgin County prepares to open its first hospice facility | CBC News
A long-awaited hospice is set to open its doors in Elgin County and it expects to be ready to admit its first patient by the end of July.
The newly named Barrie Family Hospice of Elgin aims to meet a growing need in the southwestern Ontario county, south of London, which has around 800 deaths each year in the community of nearly 90,000 residents, said executive director Brenda Fleming.
“This is a much needed resource for Elgin County and is something that the community has really wrapped their arms around and supported as we get ready to open,” she said.
Elgin was one of the last areas in the region without a hospice, Fleming explained. Until now, people seeking palliative or end-of-life care had to be placed in a hospital, at home or in nearby communities with hospice care like London, Woodstock or Chatham-Kent.
The new name honours the late Marianne Barrie, a long-time St. Thomas resident whose estate recently donated $3.5 million to the hospice, making it the largest charitable donation in Elgin County’s history, according to Fleming, who added that fundraising efforts have been ongoing since 2019 to make this project a reality.
Barrie died in 2017 and was well-known for her “quiet, but committed support of the St. Thomas community,” Fleming said. She had a long career as a lawyer along with strong family ties to the city where her father Vincent Barrie, served two terms as mayor in the 1960s.
Afternoon Drive7:35Elgin County will open the doors to its first hospice centre
A new hospice centre was funded in part by a generous 3.5 million dollar donation from the estate of a long-time St. Thomas resident, Marianne Barrie. The space will carry her name: Barrie Family, Hospice of Elgin. Brenda Fleming is the executive director of the Barrie Family Hospice of Elgin.
This donation was a perfect way to honour the family, said Bill Graham, the executor of Barrie’s estate.
“As I became aware of the significant impact this project would have on families, I realized it would be a perfect embodiment of the Barrie family values,” said Graham.
‘Not an institutional environment’
As of now, the target date for the first admission is July 22. Fleming said the hospice will work closely with Ontario Health to identify people receiving palliative care in the community and refer them to the hospice when appropriate.
With a focus on comfort and quality of life, care will be provided at no charge to patients and their families in a relaxing environment surrounded by green space. Staff affectionately refer to the new building as “the cottage.”
“It’s not an institutional environment,” Fleming said. “It’s really a home away from home for people to come and make some memories with their families in the last moments of life.”
The facility will have 10 private suites, eight of which will be opening this summer to provide end-of-life hospice care to people in the community.
About 125 people are expected to spend their final weeks there each year, but there will also be a palliative care hub for patients who are continuing to live at home. The two services combined will serve 500 people annually.
The hospice will also include a large community room, where people will be encouraged to hold meetings and events, Fleming added.
“So that it’s not a place that is feared and that people think people are just going to die,” she explained. “But it’s really a place where the community is alive and well.”
