A tenfold increase in the number of hospice beds in St. Albert is being hailed as great news for this community.
Alberta Health Services (AHS) and Covenant Care are expected to announce 10 new hospice beds at Foyer Lacombe in St. Albert today, Sept. 30, along with an additional 12 long-term care spaces. Currently there is just one hospice bed in St. Albert at the Youville Care Facility.
Carol Anderson, executive director for continuing care for AHS, told the Gazette last week that the health-provider had come to an agreement with Covenant Care and the new beds would be open early in the new year.
“I know there’s a lot of interest and a lot of passion for this,” she said. “The community is incredibly supportive and we are as well.”
She said former health minister Stephen Mandel had committed in September 2014 that there would be additional funding to improve continuing care capacity in St. Albert, and the Foyer Lacombe site was immediately considered as a good possibility.
The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate in Canada own the site, and have previously operated a private supportive living facility for missionaries and priests, but had made the decision they would discontinue that service.
“We undertook this opportunity with Covenant (Care) to look at how we might be able to utilize this space at Foyer Lacombe,” Anderson explained.
For Dennie Hycha, the senior director of operations at Covenant Care, having access to the space in Foyer Lacombe was a perfect fit.
“In our tradition, because we are affiliated with the Catholic tradition as well, it fits very nicely in the direction we’re going,” she said. “We’re excited to build on this opportunity in St. Albert.”
She explained Covenant would lease the space from the oblates, and in turn operate the hospice and long-term care space under contract to Alberta Health Services.
Hycha said the relatively small space of just 22 beds would provide Covenant with a good opportunity to offer something relatively new with a large degree of flexibility in how service will be provided.
“The combination of end-of-life care as well as long-term care is really a unique opportunity to see how we can provide an innovative approach to care in a setting that isn’t very large,” she said.
The reaction from the local hospice-care advocacy group, the St. Albert and Sturgeon Hospice Care Association (SASHA), is understandably positive.
“We’re very pleased with this announcement. It’s excellent news for the community,” vice-president Sheila Cameron said.
She said the group began work in November 2013 before being incorporated as a not-for-profit association in April 2014, and has been very busy advocating for more hospice space in St. Albert because there’s such a significant need.
“Hospice care emerged (as a priority) because we only have one bed here in St. Albert,” she said. “People were having to go into Edmonton, and it’s very difficult for people who are 85 in hospice in the Edmonton General Hospital, and a partner who’s also 85 would have to drive into town.”
Although today’s announcement is good news, Cameron said there is still much work to do. The association will now work to raise funds for extras at the facility that AHS may not provide – things like televisions and radios, folding beds for family members, and other quality-of-life enhancements for residents.
She added SASHA will begin its annual membership drive beginning in October, and encouraged all area residents to join.
“Being a member really shows government and others how strong we are,” she said.
