Foothills Hospice is doubling their beds thanks to local donation

A local hospice is doubling in size, thanks to a donation from a Foothills County based construction and building supply company.

According to the Executive Director with the Foothills Country Hospice Society Shaun Dyer, while Alberta's population is aging, hospices help to alleviate strain on the health care system.

"The hospice movement provides an alternative place for people who have received the terminal or palliative diagnosis and who are living with life limiting disease or illness," explains Dyer. "And rather than spending their last days and weeks in a hospital bed, they get to spend it here in a hospice that is far more conducive to peaceful, calm, sort of hopeful compassionate care that wouldn't otherwise be provided if they were in an acute care hospital facility." 

Because of that need for hospice care, the Foothills Country Hospice Society has decided to expand the number of beds they have for patients.

"When we announced that we were expanding and we began the bid process for different trades, Integrity came forward and said, 'We would like to donate the entire lumber package for the hospice,'" Dyer says. "They were in conversation with a couple of our volunteers who gave them more background and more information about our expansion."

The Integrity Group is a Foothills County based company that specializes in post-frame construction and building supplies and are community champions.

"Their donation signals a deep admiration and care for the community in which they work. They've also signaled to us that they believe in the work that we're doing, and so we feel like we've been really fortunate to receive their donation. Obviously, the lumber itself is a huge cost savings to the hospice, in terms of sheer overall project cost," Dyer says. "We're really grateful for Integrity."

Construction on the hospice expansion has already begun, where they will go from having eight to sixteen beds available.

"For organizations like Foothills Country Hospice, those community partnerships are so, so critical to our overall success in our ability to provide exceptional care to our residents and their families."