News

St. Joe's proposes retirement complex
Published on Thursday,13 July, 2017

St. Joseph's Lifecare Centre wants to build a seniors retirement complex on its property.

The centre's board of trustees has issued a request for expressions of interest to construct a "state-of-the-art retirement facility" on the last remaining five acres of its property, which is bounded by Wayne Gretzky Parkway and Grey and Chatham streets.

Interested parties are being asked to attend a site meeting on July 28. The deadline for expressions of interest is Aug. 31.

"We are in the early exploratory stages," Derrick Bernardo, president of St. Joseph's, said in an interview Monday.

Bernardo said that, three years ago, the board completed a community health needs assessment, which identified as a priority the treatment of elderly residents. That assessment, funded through St. Joseph's Lifecare Foundation, complemented a master aging plan for Brantford and Brant County, which, in 2007, found that the area's population of 19,000 seniors would swell to nearly 40,000 by 2031.

"This projection does not include seniors moving into the community," Bernardo noted.

"We are always sensitive to the needs of seniors and we are always looking for ways of improving their quality of life."

The cost, size and number of units for the proposed retirement complex and a timetable for construction are unknown at this stage, Bernardo said.

"We are well positioned to do this because right beside where the building would go, we already have on the campus a lab, an onsite pharmacy, a multitude of physicians with an array of specializations, massage, clinical dietitian and art therapy services," he said.

"All can be accessed by residents who would be living in the complex. We want to create that community feeling and improve access to care and services at the same time."

The St. Joseph's complex now includes a long-term care home with 205 beds, the Stedman Community Hospice and Hankinson House, offices of the Canadian Diabetes Association, a continence care clinic, peritoneal dialysis program and facilities for urology research.

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Brantford Expositor 2017 ©

Stedman building offering new programs
Published on Monday,29 May, 2017

After the opening of the new Hankinson House, the Stedman Community Hospice building was closed and emptied in 2014 after providing end-of-life care for 10 years.
"A lot of people feel connected to this building and are interested just because of that hospice history,” said Shelley Murray, a recreational therapist who helped host an open house at the facility Friday that showed how the home-like setting of the Stedman Building is being re-used.
Built in 2004 with six residential bedrooms, a programming area and some office space, the hospice was quickly outgrown by the community needs and the building was deemed too small. In 2014, the much larger Hankinson House was built nearby where the hospice work continues.
Activities now being run in the building are St. Joseph’s Day Wellness Centre and Day Life Skills program, offered free or for a nominal charge to those in Brantford, Brant, Haldimand-Norfolk, Six Nations and New Credit.
The Day Wellness program is aimed at those 55 and older dealing with issues like social anxiety or isolation, difficulty with decision-making, impaired social interactions and unstable mental health conditions. It runs Tuesdays at the building and can include programming from walking to Zumba, music to meal preparations and yoga to art.
The Life Skills program, which runs on Thursdays, aims to help those with developmental or learning disabilities live more independent, active lives with programming like basic cooking and meal planning, cleaning and laundry, gardening, finances, time management, stress management and problem solving,
Participants in both programs have to be mobile with minimal assistance and be able to take their own medications.
"When clients come in, they set goals for themselves and we help them work toward them,” said Murray.
The building’s great room is large enough for many activities and the large kitchen lends itself to teaching classes.
The former bedrooms for hospice patients are now used as respite or nap areas for those who need a break from the programming and a board room for education portions of the day.
A beloved part of the original hospice is the extensive patio and garden area, which now connects to Hankinson House. Murray said horticulturalist Lynn Leach uses the space to do garden programming with both the Day Wellness and the Life Skills groups.
"We’re trying to fill a niche in the community and not repeat what other programs are doing,” Murray said, citing other day programs that focus on those with Alzheimer’s or those in an educational setting.
"I have a son with autism and know that after he’s 18 I’ll be looking for whatever programming is available because there isn’t much, and he’ll need something like this one day.”
The two programs have been running for about three and seven months but Murray said the group sizes have stayed fairly small, She’s hoping for a few more people to express interest in the programs, which are funded by the St. Joseph’s foundation.
"We work with the Community Care Access Centre to help with the goal of trying to keep people at home,” Murray said.
The new programs use about 60 percent of the existing space: office rentals and a Kidney Care centre are using other portions.
Murray emphasized that the facility is still the Stedman Building with the photo of the Stedman sisters at the front door.
For more information on the programs, call 519-751-7096, ext. 3315 or email smurray@sjlc.ca.

"I went from being a nurse to a wife again"
Published on Monday, 8 May, 2017

Hike for Hospice reaches all-time high of almost $305,000
News May 07, 2017 07:17 by Sean Allen Brant News

There are a lot of emotions tied to the Stedman Community Hospice, but it’s surprising how few of them are somber.

"The day (Murray) came in was a real combination of sad and happy,” Joanne Davis recalled of a day in 2012 when her husband Murray was admitted. "It was the same day my daughter Kelsey got married.”

Kelsey Mosher accelerated her wedding plans as Murray’s battle with his pancreatic cancer intensified in order to make sure her dad would be able to get in a few steps down the aisle with her.

"I relate all the memories as happy,” Kesley said. "He ultimately wanted to be there for me, but he also really wanted to spend his last days at the hospice.”

Murray would pass away six days later on July 29, 2012, in his 55th year.

Murray’s Marchers have been a team at the annual Hike for Hospice fundraiser every year since. They were a reduced crew on Sunday due to a family wedding and vacation, but still had 17 strong at the event. Some years they have more than 40.

On Sunday, they were part of an estimated 1,500 walkers who brought in a total of $304,796.75 for the hospice – a new fundraising record in the 13th year of the hike.

The six days Murray spent at the hospice are cherished by the family, especially Joanne.

"I went from being a nurse to a wife again,” she said. "It was so much more relaxed here than at home. I was able to sit with Murray and just visit with him.”

Joanne spent much of her time leading up to the hospice caring for Murray at the family’s farm near Burtch. There was also a lot of visitors, which kept Joanne in "hostess” mode.


"He was really happy to be (at the hospice),” Joanne said. "He said it was the place he needed to be."

Once admitted to the hospice, Murray’s stay and the visits by his family had an impact on the hospice staff, too.

Joanne started volunteering at the reception desk at the hospice last October. On one of her first days, one of the staff members asked why she recognized Joanne.

"I asked her if she remembered Murray and the concert,” Joanne said. "That clicked right away.”

The Davises, particularly Murray's nieces and nephews, are a musical family. While Murray was at the hospice, his sister-in-law arranged for some of them to come and perform a concert for him in the gardens behind the building.

"He was barely able to stay awake at that point in his battle, but you could still see his hand going … tapping time with the music,” Joanne said.

The family concert was taken in by other residents of the hospice at the time and is a personal favourite memory of at least one staff member.

The Davis family was just one personal story of thousands that have used the services of the Stedman Community Hospice.

St. Joseph’s Lifecare Foundation CEO and president Olga Consorti said it’s stories like those of the Davis family that make working at the hospice a pleasure.

"People ask me, ‘How am I not sad or filled with gloom and doom working in an environment of death?’” Consorti said. "And it’s because it’s literally making people’s dying wishes come true and giving families love at a time when they need it the most.

"We all have our down days, when we are sad and miss people. But knowing what the alternative could have been, and how they could have died without that support, really fuels us as staff everyday.”

The Hike for Hospice is especially important for the organization, as it’s the signature annual fundraiser for an operation that only receives funding for a portion of its nursing program. Everything else at the hospice – from the actual building itself, to medical equipment, furnishings, programs, meals, and even heat and hydro – must be funded through donations from the community.

"Because of you, the hospice has been able to help thousands of families in their end-of-life journey,” Consorti said to the crowd gathered in preparation to hike a kilometre around the Wayne Gretzky Parkway facility on Sunday.

"Because of you, the hospice is here for everyone regardless of their age, stage of illness, religion or financial status. Because of you and events like Hike for Hospice, our hospice patients will never get a bill for the care they so desperately need and deserve."

The commemorative T-shirts for the walk this year featured a design inspired by Canada 150, which incorporated the names of everyone who has ever come through the hospice for their final days.

Margit Offenhammer was the top individual fundraiser for the second time in the past three years, bringing in pledges of $11,880. Her personal three-year fundraising total has surpassed $25,000.

Daneka Miller was the top youth fundraiser, collecting $3,952.

Daneka is in a unique situation, as she’s already graduated Grade 8, but is still attending Grade 8 at North Ward School in Paris.

Staff at the Stedman Community Hospice rallied earlier this year to throw Daneka and 10 of her friends an early graduation ceremony after her mother, Cindy Miller, was admitted to the hospice on Jan. 27. Cindy was diagnosed with a brain tumour in November 2016.

The hospice family room was decked out in the blue and gold colours of North Ward School, while Daneka and her classmates were outfitted with last-minute dresses and suits. With the help of teachers from North Ward, the graduation ceremony took place prior to Cindy’s death on March 10.

On Sunday, Daneka organized a team of 44, made up of classmates, friends and their families. Team Miller/Sellars was organized by Daneka and her classmate Owen Sellars, whose mother passed away in 2014 and was a patient of the hospice’s outreach program.

The grand total from the hike of almost $305,000 blew past last year’s previous record of $281,000.

Consorti said the hike feels additionally fortunate in getting two title sponsors agreeing to share the spotlight this year, with both Remedy’sRx and Methapharm making significant corporate donations.

Hike for Hospice raises over $304,000
Published on Monday, 8 May, 2017

The mother and daughter stood under a blue sky in the parking lot of the St. Joseph's Lifecare Centre on Wayne Gretzky Parkway that was filling with walkers on Sunday. They were waiting for other members of their Murray's Marchers to assemble for the start of the 13th annual fundraiser, which raised $304,796.

They said that they participate in the event because, five years ago, Davis's husband, Murray spent his last six days in the hospice, which is operated by St. Joseph's, before succumbing to pancreatic cancer.

"The day he came in, Kelsey was getting married," Davis explained.

"We lived on a family farm in Burtch. We asked him if it was hard leaving the farm for the last time. He said, 'No, this is the best place for me to be,' and everyone could visit him at the hospice."

"So, he went to the wedding and could take four or five steps down the aisle with me," Mosher said.

At the hospice, staff set up to allow everyone to visit Murray on the back patio in the gardens. And since they are a musical family, the Davises put on a concert for all the hospice patients.

Mother and daughter said Murray was well cared for in his final days.

"It was a place that treated him with so much respect," said Mosher.

Davis volunteers once a week at the hospice.

Mother and daughter started Murray's Marchers. Some years, the group has had as many as 30 marchers who raised $9,500. This year, 10 turned out and raised $3,500.

Daneka Miller and Owen Sellars, students at North Ward Public School in Paris, teamed up to raise money for the hospice. Thirteen-year-old Daneka lost her mother to a brain tumour after spending her last days in the hospice, and Owen, also 13, lost his mother while she was in the hospice's outreach program.

The two recruited a team of 44 members. Their team had a $1,000 fundraising goal, but had raised $12,635 by hike day.

Olga Consorti, president and CEO of St. Joseph's Lifecare Foundation, said she was grateful for Sunday's good weather after days of rain.

"We had angels watching over us. We really did," she said.

This year's hike drew nearly 1,500 walkers.

Among those introduced to the crowd were Cheryl Moore, the hospice's executive director, honorary chairman Walter Gretzky, Brantford-Brant MP Phil McColeman, Brant MPP Dave Levac and Elsie Hankinson, who with her husband, Lorne, who died in 2011, donated $1 million toward construction of Hankinson House, the new 10-bed hospice that opened in 2014.

The Brantford Pipes and Drums escorted hikers onto their route.

The Hike for Hospice includes a one-kilometre route around the St. Joseph's neighbourhood at Wayne Gretzky and Grey Street,

Margit Offenhammer was the top individual fundraiser with $11,880.

The top youth fundraiser was Daneka Miller with $3,952.

The top fundraising team will be announced once everything is counted.

Last year, more than 1,500 hike participants raised $281,000.

The hike is the only fundraiser organized by the hospice. The rest of the facility's operating expenses - between $1.5 million and $2 million a year - come from corporate contributions, personal donations and memorial donations.

Only a portion of nursing care at the hospice is offset by government funding. Utility costs, medical equipment, furnishings, food and other expenses are all covered through community funding.

SC Johnson donates $500,000 to the Stedman Community Hospice Hankinson House
Published on Friday,21 April, 2017

SC Johnson lighting the way for grieving families

News Apr 20, 2017 by Victoria Gray, Brant News

SC Johnson donated $500,000 to the Stedman Community Hospice Hankinson House and the SC Johnson Way wing of the hospice was unveiled Thursday at the hospice on Grey Street. From left General manager SC Johnson Chris Moeller, Ron Webb with his wife Ruth Webb who is currently a resident and Elsie Hankinson, the hospices' namesake who donated $1 million from the Lorne and Elsie Hankinson Charitable Foundation in 2012. - Victoria Gray/Metroland

Ruth Webb doesn't know how much longer she has, but she's glad to spend the reminder of her days at Stedman Community Hospice Hankinson House.

"You couldn't find a better place,” she said. "You can tell this isn't just a job for them, it's a calling.”

The Port Dover resident has cancer in her left eye and in her lungs that has metastasized, but she and her husband Ron say they are glad to be welcomed to the hospice.

"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else, well I would, but under the circumstance,” she joked. "It's a lovely place. I say this is heaven's waiting room and heaven has some shoes to fill.”

SC Johnson Canada donated $500,000 to the hospice this month and the SJ Johnson Way wing was unveiled on Thursday during a celebration and tour of the hospice.

Olga Consorti, president and CEO of St. Joseph's Lifecare Centre said staff chose the name because of the company's philosophy of giving back and long history of supporting the community.

"It is SC Johnson's way to help out and we really appreciate that,” she said.

During a reception before the unveiling Chris Moeller, general manager of SC Johnson Canada, and executive director of the hospice Cheryl Moore lit a candle together to signify their partnership and lighting the way for others together, while maintaining their own glow.

"When we light the way for others it does not extinguish our own flame, it just makes the world a brighter place,” Consorti said.

Moeller said no matter what country SC Johnson has operated in, it contributes to the local community because it's something it believes in.

"We've heard so many inspiring stories from employee volunteers and employees who have unfortunately, had to use the hospice that people feel loved, supported and empowered. I think these are really powerful words,” he said. "These things don't happen without vision, resources and time from community members.”

Ready to take a hike?
Published on Friday, 7 April, 2017

It was her dying wish to be with 13-year-old Daneka to celebrate the milestone event.

Staff at the Stedman Community Hospice, where Miller, who was suffering a brain tumour spent the last weeks of her life, were committed to making that happen.

In a single day, they organized a graduation ceremony that included 10 of Daneka's North Ward School classmates and a group of teachers. They helped the young grads get dresses and corsages, decorated the hospice family room in the school colours of navy blue, white and gold, and brought in homemade baked goods.

They did Miller's hair and makeup and wheeled in her bed so she could be part of the day.

"She couldn't talk but she knew what was going on," said Darrin Miller, Cindy's husband of 20 years. "It was very emotional for her. "It was her last wish and, once the graduation was over, you could tell she was satisfied."

Miller, an elementary teacher who lived in Paris, died on March 10 at the age of 43.

It's not unusual for staff at the hospice, which is operated by the St. Joseph's Lifecare Centre, to make end-of-life wishes come true for their patients.

"This was our first graduation, but we've had weddings and birthdays here," said Olga Consorti, president and CEO of St. Joseph's Lifecare Foundation. "We want to ensure patients live before they die."

Grateful to the hospice staff who looked after Miller for six weeks and who became more like family than caregivers, Darrin Miller, Daneka and a huge team of supporters will be among the walkers in the 13th annual Hike for Hospice on Sunday, May 7.

Last year, more than 1,500 hike participants raised $281,000. This year, Consorti said they're hoping to surpass that.

"The success of the hike is vital to our ability to offset hospice programming to ensure that no patient or family ever gets a bill for the care they need and deserve," said Consorti.

It is the only fundraiser organized by the hospice. The rest of the facility's operating expenses - between $1.5 million and $2 million a year - come from corporate contributions, personal donations and memorial donations.

Only a portion of nursing care at the hospice is offset by government funding, said Consorti. Utility costs, medical equipment, furnishings, food and other expenses are all covered through community funding.

"The hospice is one of the biggest community treasures," said Consorti. "It is funded by the community for the community."

The Hike for Hospice includes a one-kilometre route around the St. Joseph's neighbourhood at Wayne Gretzky Parkway and Grey Street, which participants are encouraged to do as many times as they wish.

This year, hospice staff will celebrate Canada's 150th anniversary with a commemorative hike T-shirt. There are also early bird draw prizes for anyone who registers and raises $100 or more by April 27. Prizes include white gold sapphire and diamond earrings, a 40-inch television and men's designer sunglasses.

Top fundraisers will be able to choose from prizes, including a $1,500 travel gift certificate donated by Goliger's Travel Plus, or a $2,000 travel voucher donated by Via Rail. The top fundraising team will get a $1,000 gift certificate donated by The Keg Steakhouse, and top youth will get a $100 gift certificate for toys.

Sharp Bus Lines is donating the use of buses so hike participants can park at the Lynden Park Mall. The shuttle will run from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on hike day. Everyone who parks at the mall will be entered into a draw for a $250 mall gift card.

Everyone who collects $250 will get a selfie photo stick. Hikers will receive a ballot to be entered into several draws for donated prizes, including gift cards, a gym membership, a television, a gift basket, and a junior B 99ers season pass.

The hike begins at 1 p.m. with a celebration of life service to honour lost lives and those living with life-threatening illness.

Early bird registration day is Saturday, May 6, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the St. Joe's parking lot at 99 Wayne Gretzky Pkwy, where the hike begins and ends.

Consorti said everyone is encouraged to pre-register, to reduce lineups on hike day, at www.stedmanhike.ca and come to the early bird with their pledges.

The registration fee for hikers is $20, which includes a T-shirt, barbecue and festivities.

Registration on hike day starts at 11 a.m.

More information is available at www.stedmanhike.ca or by contacting Michelle Biro by telephone at 519-751-7096, ext. 2475, or by email at mbiro@sjlc.ca.

Showing support for Brantford's hospice
Published on Tuesday,31 January, 2017

Victoria Gray, Brant News
Debbie Clayton knows tragedy can strike anyone of any age at any time.
In that difficult time, she wants families to know they have the support of the community behind them making sure that at Stedman Community Hospice families, not just patients, are taken care of.
"Families can stay at the hospice and get fed while your loved one is there,” she said. "So they don't have to go home.”
Clayton hopes the third annual Hugs for Hospice helps keep families together and taken care of in their time of need at Stedman.
The fundraiser is Feb. 4 at the Gunners' Club on Henry Street. The doors open at 5 p.m. for a sit down roast beef dinner, live and silent auctions, a dance and a buffet at 10 p.m.
To date, the fundraiser has given more than $10,000 to the hospice and are shooting to raise $10,000 this year.
"It's supposed to be a happy event,” she said. "People want to be remembered definitely, but they don't want you to be sad.”
Nicole Wellwood, Evan Leversage's, mother will give a speech about the hospice and how it affected her life during seven year old Leversage's last days with an inoperable brain tumour two years ago after the St. George community gave the family an early Christmas.
There will be a Sponge Bob Square Pants placed on a table and all donations left will go to the hospice in memory of Leversage.
Matt Cummings, owner of StillWaters Plate and Pour and the Cobblestone Pub House and Clayton started the fundraiser after Clayton's battle with cancer. Four years ago she was diagnosed with stage four melanoma and a few months later breast cancer. After countless chemotherapy sessions, more than 30 days of radiation, 11 surgeries and more, she's still alive to tell the tale, when many friends are not.
"My view on life has changed so much,” she said. "This is a way for me to give back and help other people.”
The live auction has two West Jet tickets to anywhere they fly, a restaurant tree with more than $500 in gift certificates, a spa tree with over $500 in gift certificates and much more.
"It's a great cause,” she said. "They make you feel very comfortable.”

Stedman Hospice offers 'compassion' along final journey
Published on Monday,23 January, 2017

| By Jeff Tribe

If Peter Slaman were to sum up his experience with Stedman Community Hospice in a single word, it might well be ‘compassion.’

"Unbelievable,” said the Port Dover resident Wednesday afternoon during the facility’s Norfolk Community Outreach Office Open House at 23 Market St. "Everyone in that place seemed to have that care for another person, ‘What can we do for you, how can we ease your pain?’

"That applies from the nurses right down to the lady at the front door who signed you in.”

Slaman’s path to Stedman began in December, 2014 when his wife Veronica ("Everyone knew her as Ronnie,”) experienced eyesight issues and began suffering constant headaches. During their March, 2015 trip to Spain, Ronnie was stumbling over things and lost her peripheral vision, leading to a CAT scan in April, which came back negative.

But by July, 2015 with her speech slurred and both suspecting a stroke, the couple visited Norfolk General Hospital. More detailed tests revealed a growth on her brain, identified as cancerous through a subsequent operation in Hamilton.

Given best estimates of between four months and two years to live and transferred back to Simcoe post-operation, Ronnie, realizing her condition was terminal, elected to return home as soon as possible. While there, a doctor had mentioned the possibility of a hospice in passing and in September, 2015 she was referred to an outreach team.

Peter, his two daughters, Ronnie’s sister and CCAC staff combined to provide home care through that fall and into the winter.

"Without them, I would not have been able to do it for sure.”

Slaman also spoke to the value of support throughout this journey, how much he appreciated a visit or a phone call from a friend or family member.

Peter found the toughest part of providing care for a person you are emotionally involved is seeing them suffer. Early in January, 2016, CCAC staff suggested it might be time to consider the hospice. Dr. Robin Martin-Godelie performed an assessment with a nurse, and when a bed opened up two days later (January 13), Ronnie was moved to Stedman in Brantford. She relaxed immediately, says Peter, almost as if she had accepted the final stage of her journey.

"It’s the biggest relief knowing that she was looked after, she was at peace.”

Ronnie passed Saturday, January 30, 2016.

"She was at peace during those last 17 days,” says her husband. There was no such thing as a hospice for his parents, the level of service provided unavailable, up to and including a post-death visit with his family from Stedman Supportive Care Clinician Maureen Russell.

"I think a hospice is a very, very important part of medical care. A person who is in their final days needs different care.”

Slaman shared his story, although difficult and emotional in the retelling, during the Norfolk Community Outreach Office Open House in support of others in the future, continued service whose value is most evident to those who have already taken the journey.

"The need is so obvious once you’ve gone through it. I think every person should have the opportunity, should this time of life come, that these services are there.”

Palliative care has many rewards
Published on Friday,16 December, 2016

Colleen Toms
Brant News  |  Dec 15, 2016
STEDMAN COMMUNITY HOSPICE
In Photo: Stedman Community Hospice registered nurse Tara Young, left, residential care co-ordinator Jennifer Dennis and student nurse Stephanie VanderValk are part of the team who make a patient's final days easier.

A day in the life of a Stedman Community Hospice caregiver is anything but typical.

"There are times my husband will ask me ‘so what have you got planned for the day’ and I say ‘I have no idea,’ because the days are so unpredictable,” said residential care co-ordinator Jennifer Dennis.

Dennis is in charge of assessing patients and co-ordinating their admission to the hospice.

Many of the admissions are recommended by the Stedman Community Hospice outreach program and Dennis will then visit with the patient and family in their home or in the hospital.

"That’s when you have that difficult conversation about how things have been at home and how hospice care could benefit them and their family,” Dennis said. "For the families there’s a tremendous amount of relief to know the burden of care is being shifted now onto professional caregivers.

"In spite of the wonderful job they’ve done, they need time now just to be at the bedside.”

Some patients will have already expressed a desire to spend their final days at the hospice while for some, knowing they are leaving their home for the last time and that their journey is coming to an end can be distressing.

"I would say it’s probably the most difficult decision that patients and families ever make, just to accept that,” said hospice executive director Cheryl Moore.

For Dennis, making the decision as to which patient would benefit most from care in the hospice setting isn’t easy, either.

"Sometimes it’s the needs of the family more than the patient,” Moore said. "When it’s a young mom or dad too, I just pray that we have a bed because we have to look at the children and where is the best environment in this situation that they can be in.

"I don’t believe there’s any other setting that can wrap their arms around a family and support them like hospice can.”

As difficult as working in palliative care can be, it can also be very rewarding.

"You don’t intend to go into it, you just happen upon it and once you happen upon it you realize, this is the most meaningful work I’ve ever done and it allows you to be the nurse that you always imagined that you could be,” Dennis said.

For registered nurse Tara Young, providing 24/7 hands-on care enables her to personalize care for each individual patient.

"Our staff really tries hard to get to know who that person is they’re looking after so they will fine-tune that care,” Young said. "It’s having the person define their goals and wishes for end-of-life care and then changing our ways and trying to accommodate their wishes. It’s about them.”

When working in palliative care nurses need to be flexible and open to treating patients in ways that may not be typical.

"We want it to be as homey as it can be for them and to keep their routines the same,” Young said. "We had a patient who had a Sunday night football family event and that was his last event. We try to make it very personal for them.”

There are times when rules are broken – for instance some patients may want an ice cream sundae for breakfast or a homemade apple pie - and hospice staff will go out of their way to fulfill their wishes.

Walking into a room and seeing a smile on the face of a patient is often all the reward nurses need.

"Just to know that they are comfortable, that is the best feeling,” Young said.

Nurses often establish bonds with patients, which can make it more difficult when the patient dies.

"Friendships evolve, it’s hard not to build those friendships, so even in grief and in mourning it helps to keep in touch with the families sometimes,” Young said. "The support of staff is also very helpful.”

Student nurse Stephanie VanderValk said patient care revolves more around personal comfort in palliative care.

"It’s more supportive care,” she said. "It’s really humbling, that’s what I’ve found, and rewarding for sure.

"Even when they do pass away it’s sad, but you also have to think that it’s what the patient wanted at that time.”

VanderValk had a personal experience with hospice care, which helped steer her in that direction for her career.

"It was the type of care – (nurses are) not wearing uniforms and it has every feel of a home,” she said. "It doesn’t have the beeps, the sounds and it gives the family time to be a wife, to be a daughter, to be a son and not that caregiver that they are at home.

"It’s kind of like a beautiful thing here.”

Palliative Headquarters in Port Dover
Published on Friday, 9 December, 2016

The Stedman Community Hospice in Brantford has opened an extension office in Port Dover. Among those on hand for the official opening Thursday was Dr. Robin Martin-Godelie, seated, a palliative care physician serving Norfolk County. In back, from left, are Bob Pomeroy of the Port Dover Lions, Stedman executive director Cheryl Moore, and Ross Gowan of the Rotary Club of Norfolk Sunrise. MONTE SONNENBERG/SIMCOE REFORMER

A structured approach to end-of-life care is finally taking shape in Norfolk County.

Prior to Dec. 1, Norfolk families needing palliative care turned to the Stedman Community Hospice in Brantford and its roving team of clinicians.

Today – thanks to generous contributions from the Port Dover Lions and the Rotary Club of Norfolk Sunrise – the Stedman hospice has an extension office in Port Dover.

The service clubs acted due to growing demand and the pressure this is placing on front-line medical workers. The Lions and Rotarians decided it was unacceptable for these professionals to be performing such sensitive and important work out of their cars and in coffee shops.

With ongoing support from the community, the Lions and Rotarians see the Port Dover office as the first step in the development of a network of centres supporting families and health-care workers devoted to palliative care.

"It takes a community to look after the fragile,” Ross Gowan, chair of the Lions-Rotary committee that headed up the initiative, said at the office’s dedication in Port Dover Thursday.

"It’s not just up to the health-care system. The vision I have is one of a community that wraps itself around those who need palliative care like a giant hug. We’re delighted to be part of that. The next step is to bring in the rest of the community to make this initiative grow.”

Bob Pomeroy echoed similar sentiments on behalf of the Port Dover Lions.

"From acorns great oaks grow,” Pomeroy said. "This is something I hope spreads and grows much bigger across Norfolk.”

The Stedman Community Hospice currently serves 600 patients and family members in Brantford, Brant County, Haldimand, Norfolk, Six Nations and New Credit. Nearly a third of this caseload is based in Norfolk, with 12 new cases from Norfolk alone referred to Stedman last week.

"The need is so great,” Stedman executive director Cheryl Moore said at Thursday’s event. "What makes death any less important than birth? The government is finally beginning to realize that end-of-life care is an important aspect of the health-care system.”

Dr. Robin Martin-Godelie, of Simcoe, is the palliative specialist serving Norfolk County. The doctor and her team are able to serve the community in a more orderly and efficient manner now that they have a base of operation for receiving clients.

"I want to extend a sincere `Thank you,’” Dr. Martin-Godlie said to the Lions and the Rotarians. "You’ve made our lives a whole lot easier.”

Derrick Bernardo, president of the St. Joseph’s Life-Care Centre – the administrative group overseeing the Stedman hospice – said this is the first time in Ontario that private organizations have marshalled their resources to provide palliative care in the community.

"Feel free to brag about that,” he said. "Your partnership has not gone unnoticed by the St. Joseph’s health-care community. You have brought care closer to home.”

The Stedman extension office is located in Suite 7 of the professional building at 23 Market Street West. The Port Dover Lions and Rotary of Norfolk Sunrise are committed to supporting the office for at least two years. Beyond that, it will be up to the community to support the venue through donations and fundraising campaigns.

msonnenberg@postmedia.com