It's a very busy time for Mary Smith, the Olds and District Hospice Society's first-ever executive director, as she fills that role, as well as the vacant position of service coordinator.
At the same time she's preparing for the organization's annual general meeting, which will be held Oct. 16, 7 p.m. at the Pomeroy Inn & Suites.
The guest speaker at that meeting is Wendy Duggleby, PhD, RN. Duggleby's areas of research and interest include gero-oncology and end-of-life care. She will speak on the importance of Nav-CARE.
Nav-CARE stands for Navigation, Connecting, Accessing, Resourcing and Engaging. The idea is to help elderly people stay in their homes longer by enabling them to get – or remain – involved in the community.
Smith has been in her new role for about two months now. For about five years, she served in various positions related to finance at Olds College — most recently as the facility's finance and sponsorship officer.
However, she says when she saw an ad in the paper for the hospice society's executive director position, she knew she had to apply for it.
"I love Olds College and I always enjoyed supporting the students and I liked the development of new programs and being in post-secondary education, but I did find that the hospice society does offer more meaningful work," she says.
"I did volunteer coordination at the college. I did fund development, I had the financial reporting component and I did take on some leadership roles at the college and now I'm able to utilize that skill set to help the hospice society elevate their mission and their vision for the future."
Smith says another reason she was drawn to the position is that she has had some personal experiences with end-of-life journeys.
Her uncle, who was diagnosed with cancer, spent his last days in a hospice suite.
"The support that was provided through counselling and volunteers, it was really difficult, but it made it more manageable for our family and for his daughter," Smith says.
"It was more of a peaceful journey and he was able to reach out to all family members. Everyone was able to go to the hospice suite that he was staying in and it just felt more like a home setting."
Last year, an aunt was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. However, Smith says she was unable to stay in a hospice suite and remained in a hospital instead.
"It made it a lot harder for her and all the family members," Smith says.
"Just seeing both of those journeys made me understand how meaningful the hospice care really is for the individual and the family members."
Smith says the Olds and District Hospice Society service coordinator position will be filled eventually.
Meanwhile, she also remains head coach of the Olds College badminton team.
