Bethell House hospice residence receives OPA approval
By ALAN LICZYK Staff Reporter

The building of Caledon's first hospice facility moved one step closer to reality after Caledon council unanimously approved an official plan amendment for Bethell House in Inglewood.

Councillor Richard Paterak called it a historic day, noting Bethell House will provide a service Caledon needs. A hospice is a home used for terminally ill people to die in.

Paterak added Inglewood residents have embraced it.

He thanked Lorna Bethell not only for her $2-million donation, but for being so personally bound to its completion.

"I just hope this will be for all of us in Caledon," Bethell told council. "I hope this will be a sad but happy home."

She hopes people understand the importance of dying in a hospice instead of a hospital.

"I thank every one of you for your support," she said.

"All of this is coming together very nicely," said Mayor Marolyn Morrison.

She thanked Bethell for heightening awareness of what a hospice is. The mayor added when she retires she plans to volunteer there.

Bethell House was named after Lorna's husband Tony Bethell and her stepson Jamie Bethell who both died from cancer. Tony died from malignant melanoma Feb. 17, 2004, at age 81 at home in Caledon, and Jamie died from bone cancer Feb. 19, 2003, at age 46 in Reno, Nevada.

Tony Bethell was a Second World War veteran in the Royal Air Force. He was a part of The Great Escape which was later made into a Hollywood movie starring Steve McQueen and James Garner. He wrote a book about the escape in which 50 of his friends were killed. After the war he worked as a businessman.

Jamie Bethell worked as an engineer and he was also a triathlete.

Elizabeth Birnie, daughter of Lorna Bethell and stepdaughter of Tony Bethell, explained her mother gave the $2-million donation to the Hospice Caledon building fund in February 2005 after she inherited money from an uncle who died. Birnie is a palliative care nurse and member of both the Hospice Caledon building committee and Hospice Caledon Foundation. She worked with the Victorian Order of Nurses for many years and has helped people die in their homes for the last 15 years.

She said Bethell House will cost roughly $3 million to build and about $1 million to operate each year. She added Hospice Caledon wants raise about $6 million to give it a cushion. The provincial government will give $500,000 a year to the facility, providing it's 85 per cent full at all times. This means if there's a free bed they will take anyone in need even if they're from outside Caledon.

The hospice will be located on McLaughlin Road, north of the Inglewood Community Centre where an apple orchard is. The building will be owned by Hospice Caledon while the Town of Caledon will continue to own the four acres of land it will be situated on.

The one-storey, 8,900- square-foot building will have 10 beds for the terminally ill patients.

"It will be a home and not a hospital or palliative care unit," Birnie said. "Quality of life is the key. Death doesn't have to be horrible. It's going to be an uplifting experience."

She stressed this is not an old-age home. The patients must be in the last three months of life and they must sign a Do Not Resuscitate form.

Bethell House was designed by Caledon architect Laszlo Nemeth.

"He's brilliant," Birnie said. "We love him. He's a man ahead of his time."

She noted he wanted the facility to fit in with the background of the Niagara Escarpment. He's also looking at geothermal energy and solar panels. He's currently working on the site plan. They will be looking for in-kind donations.

The building will include a main house and two pods, with each pod containing five rooms. The main house will include a large country kitchen, dining room, family room, den/playroom, library, powder room, quiet room, doctors/nurses health care room, storage room for equipment and reception/entry hall. All the patient rooms will be decorated differently and there will be a sun room at the end of each pod. One of the pods will have a therapeutic bathroom while the other pod will have a large bathroom. The basement will include locker rooms, a volunteer training room and storage. There will also be landscaped courtyards.

Birnie said the facility will have one registered nurse on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There will be three shifts. For the 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. shifts, the staffing will include one registered nurse, one registered practical nurse and one personal support worker. The 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. night shift will have one registered nurse and one personal support worker.

She added there will probably be three volunteers working at all times. Their duties will include meal preparation, answering the phone, counselling the families and garden maintenance.

"They will be specially trained," she said.

She also noted a palliative care nurse will be the care co-ordinator which is more of an administrative role. As well, the Local Health Integrated Network will provide a nutritionist and physiotherapist.

Nancy Hall, who chairs the Hospice Caledon building committee, explained the committee was formed in 2005 and has been working towards a vision of what the building would be about. She's a nurse with the Halton-Peel Palliative Care Network and a palliative care consultant in the Caledon-Brampton area. She was also with the VON for 21 years and serves on the board of directors of Hospice Caledon.

She added the committee has done a lot of the planning and found the architect for the project. The six members of the committee, all from the local area, meet at least once a month.

Hall said they're quite hopeful construction of Bethell House will begin within the next 12 months, but she can't put a start date on it.