Island Health said it expects to have patients in its new, five-bed palliative care space in Trillium Lodge by mid-October.
“Room enhancements” and interviews with potential staff are underway now, said Island Health’s Val Wilson.
Located in the Eastwood East wing at Trillium Lodge residential care facility, the hospice space will provide patients and their families with clinical supports and care through to the end of life, Island Health said through a news release in August. The unit will include a private entrance and patio, with patients and their families having their own room and private bathroom. A dedicated and specially trained care team of nurses and personal care workers from Island Health will provide clinical care, along with a team of Oceanside Hospice Society staff and volunteers.
Island Health CEO Dr. Brendan Carr first announced these beds in April of 2014.
“As part of the development of Island Health’s overall end of life plan, we have developed a bed plan for beds in community and hospital settings,” Carr said in an e-mail to The NEWS. “The bed plan is based on ‘hospice clusters’ of four-six beds in various communities, including Oceanside. These beds will be located in established residential care settings and funded using existing resources.”