OLDS — The Olds and District Hospice Society’s (ODHS) hospice suites currently have 100 per cent occupancy and there’s a waiting list – a trend that’s been in place for about a year, according to ODHS executive director Mary Smith.
Before then, people utilized those services about 40 per cent of the time.
The society has supported 38 bereavement clients, double the figure from the previous year.
It also supports 28 NavCARE clients. NavCARE stands for Navigation, Connecting, Assessing, Resourcing and Engaging. It helps older adults with chronic illness stay in their homes with help from volunteers.
Smith gave those statistics during a presentation to town council earlier this month. Councillors were astounded to hear them.
Smith said ODHS benefited from 2,600 volunteer hours, even during COVID, which, she said, was ‘pretty amazing to see.”
Coun. Heather Ryan wondered why the occupancy rate is so high in the ODHS hospice suites.
"I think there’s a lot of different reasons that play into that,” Smith said.
“I think we’ve done a good job of connecting with, not only our health-care professionals in Olds, but also in our surrounding area so they’re more aware that we have the suites available.
“We’ve really done a big awareness campaign to let people know that these are available.”
In addition, she said, the NavCARE program has helped the society reach people “higher up in their health care trajectory.”
"Olds, with our occupancy rate, is higher than, say, at the Red Deer Hospice Society at this current time. So hospice societies have seen an influx, but we’ve seen a greater influx,” Smith said.
“I wish I knew the answer. I’m just glad that people are accessing the support,” she added.
Coun. Darren Wilson asked if the ODHS provides comfort animals for clients.
Smith said as a matter of fact, initially, she brought a couple of her family’s pets at the request of a client.
Now, for about a year, a fully trained and certified volunteer has been bringing animals in for that purpose, rather than “just bringing random birds around.”
“Sometimes those random pets are funner,” Coun. James Cummings said.
"(One client) talked about that goose for, like, three weeks straight,” Smith said, sparking some laughter.
