By Mike Renzella
The Haldimand Press
JARVIS—Norfolk Haldimand Community Hospice (NHCH) is seeking the donation of a parcel of land in Jarvis from Haldimand County toward their goal of building a new community hospice and palliative care centre to serve residents of Haldimand and Norfolk.
NHCH Board Chair Michael Godelie gave an impassioned presentation to Council at a recent meeting on why the group wants to build the centre and the type of services it would offer.
“There’s not a member of our board who has not been touched by the death of someone they care about,” said Godelie. “That’s what brought us together. We’ve all seen the good that palliative care can bring to people. I can say myself, as a nurse, what happens when systems fail, what can happen to a person and the people they care about. That’s what really drives us.”
He said the NHCH Board has extensive experience starting hospices from the ground up, adding, “We have healthcare providers…. We have people with experience in fundraising locally, in hospice, development, building, finances, and marketing. We have a wealth of experience and that has helped us a lot.”
The group is seeking enough space to build a 16,000 sq. ft. facility, which would include 10 hospice beds; space for day-hospice, outreach, and bereavement programs; and outdoor space for parking, programs, and community accessibility.
“I’m here to ask Council to consider giving the land in Jarvis to help us grow this centre,” said Godelie. “It gives us space to grow, where we can become part of the community and bring people in.”
The lot in question covers 8.75 acres and was suggested to the group by Haldimand’s planning department as a good fit for their proposed centre.
Godelie spoke of his first-hand experience witnessing end-of-life care in a hospice compared to a hospital and asked Council to “take a minute to think about what our own experience might be like … and what we would want it to be like…. I can tell you the experiences are incredibly different.”
“To be able to bring family and loved ones into that room to be able to sit for as long as they need to, to bring coffee, to sit and listen to their story … (and) to say goodbye … it was a very dignified experience, compared to the not-so-dignified experience I’ve seen in the hospital,” he elaborated. “It doesn’t compare.”
Godelie said providing a variety of comforts is the core of NHCH’s philosophy, as loved ones need support too. He added, “Hospice is a place of compassion, where we have resources, where we can help people to die or to live and grow…. We have a vision to bring those hospice resources to our community, where our people from Haldimand County can come to die in dignity.”
Godelie listed Haldimand’s aging population as a key factor in why local hospice care is needed.
County CAO Craig Manley commented on the ask, “Staff have met with this group and advised them they needed to come to Council. If Council is interested in moving forward, the appropriate next step would be to request a staff report on the ask, so that staff can present the comments and implications so that Council can make a decision with the benefit of staff recommendations and analysis.”
Ward 1 Councillor Stewart Patterson spoke in favour of the donation: “I think it’s a great location…. It wouldn’t work in Dunnville, like it wouldn’t work in Delhi. It’s central to everybody. I will do all I can do to push this forward, and I will make a motion to direct staff to investigate the possibility of donating the land to the hospice and getting the wheels moving.”
Patterson’s motion was seconded by Ward 2 Councillor John Metcalfe and voted for unanimously by Council, with Mayor Shelley Ann Bentley also sharing words of support for the project.
Godelie concluded, “We need everyone in our community to have the kind of death that they want.”
Additional: MPP Bobbi Ann Brady has requested the provincial government support operating costs for the hospice. See more details on Page 12.
