Community Care Northumberland (CCN) has selected the site for its six-bed Hospice Care Centre in the heart of Northumberland County.
Pending community and zoning approval, around 1.5 acres of land on Ontario Street in Hamilton Township will house the new centre. CCN researched 40 potential sites and toured eight other hospice care centres in central Ontario before selecting the site just north of Cobourg among a shortlist of five.
The land is just a kilometre north of Highway 401 on the west side of Ontario Street directly across Olivers Lane.
“Dedicated volunteers on the building committee have been working diligently for months to reach a decision on a site selection for the development of the Northumberland Hospice Care Centre,” stated Trish Baird, CCN’s executive director.
The volunteer work began officially following the Ministry of Health and Long-term Care’s spring announcement in Cobourg to provide annual operating funding of $315,000 for the hospice. The facility will offer services for palliative, bereavement and caregiver support and community education. This fall CCN is launching a multi-million dollar capital campaign.
“It gives assurance to the community that if they can and when they do raise the funds for the capital costs, we’ll be there,” said Dr. Eric Hoskins, Minister of Health and Long-term Care in May.
Building committee chairman Stewart Richardson says a number of criteria were used for the site selection including cost, municipal services, appropriate zoning, road links, communication services and parking lot size.
“We carefully considered every site for many aspects, such as being easy to get to, accessibility, and lots of space with natural light for families to take comfort in,” explained Richardson.
Once the site has been approved, design work will begin. Organizers aim to have the facility open in the spring of 2019.
A study by Northumberland Hills Hospital says the need for inpatient palliative care in Northumberland County will grow by 75 per cent over the next 25 years.
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