Bethell Hospice working hard to provide excellent care for residents

April 9, 2020 · 0 Comments

Written By ALYSSA PARKHILL

Bethell Hospice Care Team are dedicated to providing care and support to residents and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bethell Hospice staff members who are not directly involved with resident care, as well as all Bethell Hospice Foundation staff, are working remotely.

They are a dedicated team providing compassionate care in hopes to enhance the quality of the last bit of life for their residents, whether it’s those in palliative care, or those facing a life altering illness. Located in Inglewood, Bethell Hospice runs 24 hours care within their residence, and also offers support to those residing in their own home as well. The pandemic has forced them to make several changes, but the heart is still there.

Several actions were taken to protect not only staff, but their residents. This involved restricting visitors, staff and volunteers, allowing only one visitor per resident, with the exception in the last hours of life. Staff are even bringing in what they call, ‘compassionate cart’ offering tea, coffee and cookies to the resident’s visitor.

Volunteer efforts have been largely suspended, but a small group of reception, kitchen and facility volunteers continue to work to be able to support the team.

Bethell Hospice Foundation have many concerns in regard to financially funding the care Bethell Hospice provides for residents. With partial funding from the government, every year the Foundation works to raise $1 million a year to bridge the gap for programs for residents and their families. But with the COVID-19 outbreak, they have had to postpone or adjust plans for all fundraising events.

The Bethell Hospice Foundation released a message for the community in regard to their plan of action and what the community can do to help.

“In just a few short weeks, our world has changed. The impacts of COVID-19 have been swift and far-reaching. But this situation has also reminded us what is truly important. In simple terms, the most important gifts we can give others are compassion, respect, and genuine caring. That’s what hospice care has always been about.

Our wonderful and dedicated Bethell Hospice Care Team continues to provide outstanding care to our residents and their families and has looked for additional ways to ensure the best possible support in these challenging times. Our Clinical Team facilitates Facetiming between residents and those unable to visit and brings around a ‘compassionate care cart’ of coffee, tea and cookies to visitors on a regular basis. Our Social Work Team is providing limited in-person support, but extensive virtual support to our residents and their families. The team has also created and distributed ‘comfort kits’ for our residents and visitors to offer activities, resources and extra support.”

It continues, “Amid COVID-19, the health and safety of our residents, visitors, staff and volunteers has been our highest priority. So too is the health and safety of our event participants. In accordance with the best advice of our federal and provincial Medical Advisors of Health, we will unfortunately need to postpone our Hike for Bethell Hospice. Through the days and weeks ahead, we also anticipate further changes to our fundraising event schedule. We are, of course, concerned about the impact these changes will have on fundraising, but we know it is the only responsible course of action in response to the current global health crisis. For the latest updates on our event schedule, please visit our website at foundation.bethellhospice.org.

We look forward to brighter days ahead, and are confident that, together, we will weather this storm. We are incredibly grateful for your past support and your belief in the importance of Bethell Hospice in our community, and we know you will be there for us in the future. Please know how grateful we are for your compassion and your generosity.”

Executive Director Margaret Paan is incredibly proud of the team at Bethell, who are working hard to bring excellent care and service.

“I am so proud of our Bethell Team who have stepped up for our residents and our clients in this unprecedented time with compassion, courage and teamwork! The expert palliative care that Bethell Hospice provides is needed now more than ever, and we are ready to serve our community as a critical part of the health care system,” she said. “Although this is unlike any challenge Bethell Hospice has seen before, we have the right team and expertise to play a critical role in supporting our community through this pandemic.”

For more information on how you can help Bethell Hospice or to inquire their services, visit bethellhospice.org.