The sun may not have been shining down, and there was definitely a chill in the air, but there was nothing but warmth emanating from Maison McCulloch Hospice on Monday morning.
That's because the hospice is getting $2 million from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to help fund the costs of 10 new beds. Stand By Me, launched in February, is a three-year, $5.1-million campaign to add 16,000 square feet of space and to increase the number of beds to 20.
The project will also see short-stay respite beds, a pediatric-transition-education multi-use suite with a living area, and an onsite community ambulatory pain and symptom management care clinic.
The McCulloch family kicked off the fundraising campaign with a $1-million donation, and another $1.5 million has been raised through community donations, said Leo Therrien, executive director at the hospice.
The $2 million from the province will give the hospice some clout in securing funds from government and community sources, he said. It was an issue when all you could tell people was that, at one point, funding would be coming.
“We've been waiting for this for a long time,” Therrien said. “We know we have the beds, we know we have the operational funds for those beds, so now we have to go after the rest of the funding at the various levels of government, as well as the public, and it's easier to do that when we can tell them it's officially happening.
Now we can finalize the deals with everyone who wants to sponsor the expansion.”
Sudbury MPP Glenn Thibeault announced the funding on a cold November day outside the hospice.
“For a long time, Maison McCulloch Hospice has been providing an essential component of care for our community,” he said. “With this added investment, Maison McCulloch Hospice will have even more opportunities to offer compassion, dignity and comfort to our citizens.”
The province has committed to support the opening of 20 new hospices across Ontario within three years by funding construction and renovation costs.
The plan now, said Therrien, is to go to the city, FedNor and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund to gain their support for this project.
In July of this year, city council agreed to consider a donation of $450,000 over three years to the hospice's campaign.
“We're hoping to start building in the New Year, and it will take about a year to complete,” Therrien said. “We're hoping for a grand opening in March 2019. We've been working on this for more than two years, and we're very excited.”
