Hospice milestone announced

By Cecilia Nasmith

Community Care Northumberland board chair Ray Lobban is pleased to announce that the tender to build the Ed's House Northumberland Hospice Care Centre will be released in mid-January.

The development of this project has been front-and-centre at board discussions, Lobban said in a press release, “and we look forward to celebrating when the shovel goes into the ground in the early spring.”

Lobban also offered congratulations and thanks to the building committee – Leslie Benson, Denise Kearsey, Ian Lancaster, Cheryl McFarlane, Ross Quigley, Art Seymour, committee chair Stewart Richardson, project lead Sherry Gibson and Community Care executive director Trish Baird.

This committee, along with the architects for the project – Barry Bryan Associates – have pre-qualified five local area builders to tender on the project. Final preparations will be completed in December, and the pre-qualified builders will receive tender documents in early January.

“It is a very exciting time for this project as we move forward for the tender for the build,” Richardson said in the press release.

“The committee, along with our architects and the campaign committee, see this as a major step forward as the Hospice Care Centre moves from being a dream to a reality.”

It was a year ago when campaign co-chairs Gord and Patti Ley launched the Honouring The Journey Campaign with a $9.3-million goal. To date, more than $8.1-million has been raised in support of the project. The Leys offered their thanks to the community for this outstanding show of generosity. With the announcement of the impending tendering, they also expressed the hope that members of the community might consider adding the project to their Christmas list to make a holiday gift for Ed's House.

The new hospice hub will provide round-the-clock residential hospice care at no cost to those receiving the service, as well as serving as headquarters for current community hospice programs and outreach services.

The Hamilton Township location will be on Ontario Street at Oliver's Lane. The two-level building will include 10 hospice-care suites, six operating immediate and four future suites. On the lower level, there will be education and support services for the community.

The provincial Ministry of Health has committee to on-going operational funding of $630,000 and one-time capital funding of $1.2-million for the project.

For more information on how you can support Ed's House, visit www.northumberlandhospice.ca.