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New Hospice Opens in Vancouver
<< BACK | Download Word File Vancouver, November 30, 2005 — Providence Health Care, in collaboration with Vancouver Coastal Health and Windermere Care Centre, is opening 12 new hospice beds for the terminally ill. The beds represent a 75 per cent increase from the 16 hospice beds currently available in the City of Vancouver, and are the first to be located on the city's Westside. It is expected that Marion Hospice will reduce the time patients wait for hospice beds and free up palliative beds in acute care settings. It will accept its first patients on December 1, 2005. Hospice care provides comprehensive end-of-life care for people with less than three months life expectancy in a home-like setting. Marion Hospice is named after Sister Marion MacDonald of the Sisters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception. "During her twenty-three year tenure as administrator of St. Vincent's Hospital Sister Marion was among the first in Vancouver to initiate hospice care in a hospital setting. In the 1970s, she designated palliative care beds in Vancouver at St. Vincent's Hospital to care for terminally ill patients. It is this legacy that has provided the inspiration for this facility," says Carl Roy, President and CEO of Providence Health Care. Sister Marion MacDonald is honored to have the facility named after her and says, "Hospice care puts the patient back in the centre of health care by respecting the dignity of the individual. Hospice is a philosophy, not a place." Providence Health Care will operate the hospice and will benefit from support services at Windermere Care Centre where the hospice will be located. Marion Hospice is centrally located on 12th Ave. and Laurel across from Vancouver General Hospital. The hospice beds will be situated on one, self-contained floor that includes dining and lounge facilities. Providence Health Care is a faith-based care provider that operates six facilities in Vancouver, including St. Paul's Hospital, Mount Saint Joseph Hospital, Holy Family Hospital, and St. Vincent's. Guided by the principle How You Want to Be Treated, Providence delivers compassionate care while training medical professionals and making innovative advances in research. -30- For more information, please contact: PHC Communications media pager: 604-667-4397 << BACK | Download Word File |
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