Community Care Northumberland has unveiled a project four-years in the making – Ed’s House Northumberland Hospice Care Centre.
The 22,000 square ft. facility, located on 1301 Ontario St. in Hamilton Township, is meant to be a centralized ‘hub’ for hospice services, including early client and family engagement, to ongoing support and care to clients and their families.
The centre currently has 6 private residence suites for end-of-life clients, and an expansion will allow the completion of 4 unfinished rooms.
Each suite is climate-controlled, has a bed, fridge, lift, chairs, and space for three individuals to stay the night.
The centre also has a family room with a fireplace, quiet spaces for families and for meetings, a cafe, as well as a spiritual room donned with donated stained glass.
Chief Executive Officer of Community Care Trish Baird said the building committee had visited 20 different hospice centres across Ontario in order to form their vision for Ed’s House. According to Baird, Community Care was able to raise just over $10 million for the project over their two-year campaign. The fundraising goal was $9.3 million.
“We’ve been able to raise this money in quick time,” said Baird. “The donors that have come through have just been thrilled at the warmth of the building, the brightness of the rooms, the really – feel and importance of family in this building, so its really a toast to this community that we were able to build this.”
The centre is named after one of its donors, Ed Lorenz, who, along with his wife Diane Lorenz, contributed a “significant amount” to the project, according to Baird.
Baird said once the hospice is fully open, there will be 20 full-time staff working there, including registered nurses. 12 support staff have already been hired, whom are working in environmental services, food services, and administration.
The official ribbon-cutting ceremony for the the hospice is scheduled for Thursday.