Nipissing Serenity Hospice celebrated a milestone five year anniversary this month, with an open house Wednesday night.
Since opening it doors in January 2020, the hospice has provided end-of- life care for nearly 500 residents, in addition to offering support to friends and family members.
The hospice is a 10-bed bilingual, residential hospice located on John Street in North Bay, serving residents of Nipissing and East Parry Sound Districts.
The hospice prides itself in providing around the clock palliative care by an “expert multi-disciplinary team” in a peaceful setting.
“It’s quite amazing. It has gone by really fast and for a large number of those years, we were in COVID, so we were just trying to adapt and keep our heads above water,” reflected executive director Gil Pharand.
“It really is a centre for excellence. The growth from then to now has been amazing, getting the right staff in place, getting the right training in place and getting the word out. Outreach has been so important. You see the open house today where there are so many people here. As I’m doing tours, they’re asking questions and its new faces. New faces who haven’t been here before, and that’s so important so that people know the services that we provide when that time comes when they or someone they know might need them.”
Nipissing Serenity Hospice attends to residents at no cost.
“They don’t have to worry about the financial burden because everything is free for them,” explained Pharand.
Supported in part by government funding, the hospice must fundraise annually to make up its share of the budget.
“We look at what we get from the government which is very specific for what the use is, and it makes up about 60 per cent of our budget, so 40 per cent we would have to fundraise for, which is in and around $800-thousand per year,” shared Pharand.
“There’s so many hidden expenses in terms of just taking care of a building, service contracts and all these other pieces that add up and increase every year as well.”
Wednesday’s open house afforded the opportunity to introduce a soft launch of a new fundraising campaign, called Serenity Gardens.
“It is our full gardens within the hospice borders on our property. What we’re doing is, we are building this campaign where we have a deck, and a beautiful memorial pergola,” shared Bernadette Lindsay, Fund Development Coordinator.
“People can purchase items in honour of their loved ones or just because they want to leave a legacy project. We have paver stones, we have leaves of life, we have trees, and we also have benches for sale.”
The leaves of life will adorn the pergola.
“It is a beautiful aluminum leaf, and we’ll etch on it the person’s name, a year and it will hang on the pergola.”
Purchases can be made in memory of a loved one, even if that individual did not spend time as a resident at the hospice.
“This is going to be for anybody in the general public to be able to purchase something in honour of their loved ones.”
For more information, along with a complete list of Serenity Gardens items including purchase prices, simply go to the website www.nipissingserenityhospice.ca
Gil Pharand called the hospice a “wonderful addition to the community,” as it continues to assist individuals during their final days.
“Anytime someone wants to see us about information, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.”