Walker pledges $1.5M to hospice
Donation will help fund palliative care centres in Fort Erie, Welland
Walker Industries has pledged to donate $1.5 million to Hospice Niagara toward development of two new palliative care centres of excellence in Fort Erie and Welland.
Each of the proposed sites would provide a homelike setting with 10 private rooms for people and their families to spend time together during the final stages of life.
The expansion will enable Hospice Niagara’s programs and services to be accessible for more people across the region. The centres will house programs for people who are living at home, as well as bereavement care for children, teenagers and adults.
They would also provide educational opportunities to teach health-care professionals, staff and volunteers about the specialty of hospice palliative care.
“This is a health-care opportunity that lines up with our focus of helping the most vulnerable this year,” said Geordie Walker, president and chief executive officer of Walker Industries.
“It builds on our relationship with Hospice Niagara, which began when we supported their previous campaign more than a decade ago to build a hospice residence in St. Catharines.”
Hospice Niagara praised Walker Industries for its early support, launching the capital fundraising campaign with a strong start.
Walker Industries is a fifthgeneration, family-owned Canadian company based in Niagara involved in environmental waste management and recovery, renewable energy, paving and construction, aggregates, and emulsions,
“The Walker family has a very long history of giving back to Niagara and strengthening our community through their involvement,” said Carol Nagy, executive director of Hospice Niagara.
“We’re extremely grateful for their support and for their trust in our vision to help people and families live well from the time of diagnosis of a terminal illness, and when experiencing the loss of a loved one.”
Niagara is significantly underserved in terms of hospice bed capacity and community palliative care services, based on its population and its high percentage of seniors. While Ontario’s auditor general recommends capacity of seven to 10 hospice beds per population of 100,000, Niagara has a hospice bed count of three beds per 100,000 residents.
In addition to several community palliative care programs and services, Hospice Niagara operates the Stabler Centre, a 10-bed hospice residence in St. Catharines that serves families across Niagara.
The hospice residence provides a peaceful, comfortable setting with private rooms where people receive professional nursing care, personal support, companionship, and bereavement and spiritual care. There is no fee for services.
Provided Hospice Niagara secures full approval from the Ministry of Health and LongTerm Care, construction on the Fort Erie and Welland centres is expected to begin in fall 2021 with a late 2023 opening.
In the meantime, Hospice Niagara is planning a capital fundraising campaign to raise the necessary money to support the project moving forward.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for all of Niagara,” said Nagy.
“Expansion of these muchneeded services could not be more timely, considering the strain our health-care system has experienced in recent years, given our growing number of seniors living in Niagara and our need to end hallway medicine.
“We hope our community stands with us in supporting expansion of compassionate and exceptional care, to everyone, everywhere in Niagara.”