Dr. Mireille Lecours, right, provincial palliative care medical consultant, shows Premier Wade MacLauchlan and project manager Donna MacAusland one of the rooms at the new Provincial Palliative Care Centre in Charlottetown. Patients begin moving in Wednesday.
Mary Hughes tears up talking about a long battle finally won.
For years, the former nurse manager of the old Prince Edward Home in Charlottetown advocated for a new, much improved, facility for Islanders entering the final months, weeks and days of their life.
On Friday, she stood with a great sense of pride in the new $5.6 million provincial palliative care centre that will welcome its first patients in just a few days.
“I’m so excited,’’ said Hughes, her voice giving way to emotion.
“It’s a fulfillment of many, many years and I really don’t know who to thank because there are so many people.’’
She stressed that while nursing and medical staff, as well as volunteers, have long provided “wonderful care’’ to palliative care patients, the old, well-worn facility that for far too many years served as a nursing home/manor as well as a palliative care unit was simply not the place to offer that care.
The new centre, surrounded by a mini-forest of tall trees sitting nearby the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, does fit the bill, said Hughes.
“Now the environment is something that will be soothing, that will show caring, that will be relaxing, that families can say ‘I don’t mind coming through these doors, it’s a beautiful place,’’ she said.
Premier Wade MacLauchlan describes the 10-bed facility as “very high quality’’ that will offer numerous additional services not available at the soon-to-be-closed-for-good eight-bed facility.
“This modern facility will improve the quality of life for patients and allow them to spend their last days as comfortable as possible with every opportunity to enjoy time with their families,’’ he said.
With an operating budget of $1.9 million, the centre will offer an outpatient clinic, Hospice P.E.I. and Provincial Palliative Care Program offices.
Additional services for families and loved ones include a family dining room and lounge, an on-site kitchen for preparing food and serving residents, a multipurpose room for family conferences and staff education, and additional space for families and staff to stay overnight when required.
Dr. Mireille Lecours, provincial palliative care medical consultant, says a new day program will also be developed to allow patients to come to the facility for respite, medication review, baths, among other services.
“It’s improved patient care, improved supports to patients and their families,’’ she said.
