BMO presents a $10,000 cheque to the Nipissing Serenity Hospice which held its Capital Campaign Launch at the Davedi Club Friday afternoon. PHOTO BY CHRIS DAWSON.
The Nipissing Serenity Hospice is one step closer to reality.
Hospice officials unveiled the plans and the potential location for the palliative care facility as part of its Capital Campaign Launch at the Davedi Club Friday afternoon.
The non-for-profit organization has been working on this since 2011 and at the Davedi Club they showed off images of the proposed building along with information on where they hope to be building very soon.
The building itself is anticipated to cost $4.9 million but the board wants to push for $6 million as their fundraising goal in case of provincial funding shortfalls.
Nipissing Sereniy Hospice Board Chair Mathilde Bazinet says they have targeted a site on the south end of third avenue with the facility looking out towards Laurier Woods.
“We are hoping that when we do have the land that we will be able to apply for $1 million in Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation,” said Bazinet noting they had applied a few years ago and were told to re-apply when land and a site was secured, which they expect will happen within a week.
The news comes shortly after the organization has created a petition to keep the Hospice project separate from the Regional Hospital, which has promoted the idea of utilizing a wing in the current regional health centre as the spot for the Nipissing Serenity Hospice.
That idea has led to a petition with close to 3,000 names on it supporting the Nipissing Serenity Hospice proposal.
“Having a hospice in a hospital is really a misnomer,” said Bazinet bluntly.
“The philosophy of a hospice is you would be in a home surrounding setting and that is why we really started this initiative four years ago.”
“The outcry from the community has been loud and clear, we don’t want a hospice in the hospital. We already have a palliative care unit in the hospital and it’s not working for the families,” said Bazinet.
Bazinet adds that the 10 bed facility would be fully capable with bilingual support and their support team would include a part-time medical director as well as mental health support for patients and their families.
Bazinet says the focus now will be to look for more corporate fundraising.
Officials anticipate they will start construction in the spring of 2016 and the facility will be completed within eight months after the ground breaking.
