Rendering of the Guided Journeys stand-alone hospice care centre. (Photo: Cooper Lyon/Graphic Graphics)

By Justin Goulet

Foundation advocates for stand-alone hospice care centre in southern Alberta

Apr 11, 2024 | 9:25 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – A hospice care centre is needed in the Lethbridge region.

That’s according to the Guided Journeys Foundation.

Celeste Ment is a retired nurse and a director for the Lethbridge-based non-profit.

She notes that although there is a palliative care unit at St. Michael’s Health Centre in Lethbridge, there is no stand-alone site that offers hospice care.

“They follow people that are actually under palliative care, which means they have a life-limiting illness, but they control their symptoms, so their [life] expectancy can be anywhere from months to years. The actual hospice facilities, the actual end-of-life journey, [is] when people are in about their final three months of life,” she says.

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PALLIATIVE VS. HOSPICE

Ment further explains that “Hospice care is a type of palliative care that focuses on comfort at the end of life. Palliative care supports symptoms and manages patients until they’re to the point that they need that [hospice care].”

“There’s lots of need for this in southern Alberta because everybody deserves the highest quality of life until the end of life.”

COMMUNITY EDUCATION

Ment says the foundation has held various conversations with the community to educate people on the differences between hospice and palliative care, and the importance of a stand-alone site. She notes that they have received “tremendous community support”.

According to the foundation, the mindset behind palliative care is “living with an illness instead of dying from a life-threatening illness”.

Ment says in addition to educating the community, the foundation is seeking a suitable location for a stand-alone hospice care centre. She says that ideally, it would be located somewhere on the fringe of Lethbridge, providing the option to serve surrounding communities in southern Alberta.

Celeste Ment of the Guided Journeys Foundation. (Photo: LNN)

Ment says Okotoks is the nearest municipality that boasts a stand-alone care facility, adding that “there’s an eight-bed facility in Medicine Hat, so this would support [areas from] Bow Island to [Crowsnest] Pass, down to the border.”

“That’s kind of the area that our palliative team is covering now. If we can provide this support, that’s a huge piece of the puzzle to add in there.”

She adds that as part of the foundation’s community outreach, members have organized a volunteer palliative training seminar, which proved successful.

Ment says, “Within 24 hours, there was 50 people registered and we had a waiting list, so the community is looking to support something like this too, and now we have that many people certified to be in that position where they can help.”

COMMUNITY IMPACT

She remarks that with an aging population in Lethbridge, a stand-alone facility would be highly beneficial to the community.

“Right now, just under the palliative care team, the doctors and nurses that work in the community and with palliative patients, there’s over 200 patients that they’re caring for,” Ment says.

She notes that a stand-alone facility would allow staff to cater to the cultural diversity of the region.

“Every culture has their own rituals around dying [and] they have their own beliefs around dying, so to be able to support what those cultural values are is imperative in this area,” Ment says.

“The situation that we’re in right now, I don’t think we can deal with that aspect of things.”

FUNDRAISER

On April 13, 2024, the foundation will host its second Frost & Flare Gala.

The fundraiser will start at 5 p.m. at the Norland Historic Estate.

Ment says there will be a silent and live auction and the gala will allow team members the chance to answer questions and speak with attendees about their community-focused goals.

More information about Guided Journeys’ work is available at the foundation website.

READ MORE: Lethbridge News Now.

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