Olds & District Hospice Society opened the doors to their two new hospice palliative care suites at a celebration Open House on Wednesday, January 28, 2015.
This innovative pilot project, “A Rural Hospice Solution”, is the result of 2.5 year collaboration between the Olds & District Hospice Society and the staff of Continuum Health. The goal – to create a hospice space within Sunrise Encore, the new supportive living facility on Olds, Alberta.
Harold Johnsrude, president of Olds & District Hospice Society, welcomed the first official group of visitors at noon; in all, close to 400 residents of Olds and district toured the new suites.
The official ribbon cutting at 5 pm included representatives from the local medical community, municipal officials, and the Society’s board of directors. Dr. Eric Wasylenko, well-known advocate for hospice palliative care in Alberta sent his greetings via a letter read by Harold; Dr. Wasylenko has been a strong supporter of Olds & District Hospice Society for the past 7 years.
As on
e of the mandates of the Olds & District Hospice Society is community education and awareness, members of the Society welcomed the opportunity to “Have the Conversation” about end of life care with visitors to the Open House.
As with anything we do, our volunteers are truly the heart of everything. Special thanks to Debbie, our Service Coordinator, and all the volunteers that were such an integral part of the wonderful opening day.
We welcomed our first family to the new suite the week of February 16th.
By: Kathy Kemmere
Vice President, Olds & District Hospice Society
