New Ronald McDonald House a ‘ beautiful’ supersized gem
$ 31- million family refuge off ers improved privacy, recreational facilities and a unique air- fi ltration system to help patients and parents through hard times
Thirty- one million dollars should buy you a nice house — even if it has to accommodate 73 families — and for Tanna Flemming and son Ethan, the new Ronald McDonald House built on the campus of BC Children’s Hospital is money well spent.
“We just loved the old Ronald McDonald House, as soon as you walked in, you felt like you were being hugged,” said Tanna of the old Shaughnessy mansion that had been a home away from home since 1983 for children stricken with serious illness and their families.
“I think this is beautiful,” she said as she gazed at the spacious foyer and the large suites that will house families once the facility at 4567 Heather St. opens its doors June 23. The grand opening is Monday.
“This will be a lot better for the families,” she said.
Their family home is in Rosedale but she and Ethan, 8, have spent much of the past year in Vancouver attending Children’s Hospital or at the original Shaughnessy house as he recovered from surgery for bone cancer.
“I just love that they have an indoor fitness centre for parents. I’m beside my son 24 hours a day — us parents have so many emotions we keep inside — so getting a chance to exercise would be a great help,” she said.
Last June, Ethan was diagnosed with osteosarcoma — the same bone cancer that Terry Fox had, he says.
“And I’m going to beat it,” he said, sitting in his wheelchair and raising his hands in the air.
He’s excited to find the new house has improved recreational facilities, including a slide that will shoot kids from the second floor into the foyer.
His mom was delighted to find each suite has its own bathroom. In the old house, bathrooms were communal.
“This will beat going out into the hallway in your jammies,” she said. “For these children, when they have to use the bathroom, it has to be quickly and now he won’t have to use crutches to go down the hallway and it gives a family greater privacy.”
Richard Pass, CEO of Vancouver’s Ronald McDonald House, is right fully proud of the new building that will accommodate 73 families — compared with the 13- family limit of the original house.
That house could handle no more than 400 families annually, with dozens being turned away each month. The new house will take 2,500 families a year and will be open to all seriously ill children, not just children stricken by cancers.
“The old house was mostly dealing with oncology patients. Parents of children with other serious illnesses never applied. This is for everyone,” said Pass.
There are 336 Ronald McDonald Houses around the world and Vancouver’s new one is the fifth largest.
It is the only one to fit every suite with its own air filtration system designed to protect children with depleted immunity systems from airborne infections.
“This is one of the best features of the house. If a child has a low immune system after a transplant, any germ is lifethreatening. So we went to the extra expense of giving every bedroom its own fresh air intake and filtration system. So when you are in the room, only the family is breathing that air. Then the air is recycled and sent back outside.
“This creates a positive air pressure in the room so if a door is opened no outside air can come in. This is the only RMH that has this. It’s unique,” he said.