TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2015
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HOMELESS SHELTER
New plan required Task force sent back to the drawing board by PDACL JOHN HARDING editor@pqbnews.com
A plan to open a homeless shelter and transitional housing on Hirst Street in Parksville has hit some bumpy terrain and is back to the drawing board, says a member of the local homelessness task force. In August, community organizations appeared before city council to present their plan to use the former B.C. Ambulance station next to the SOS for 10 shelter beds, four or five transitional housing units and other services. The Parksville and District Association for Community Living (PDACL) purchased the building and were planning to lease part of it to groups who wanted to provide beds and services for the homeless of the region. There was a meeting Friday when these groups learned PDACL may not make available the space first envisioned. “The space we have to work with has diminished,” said Violet Hayes, the executive director of Island Crisis Care and a member of the local homelessness task force. “We now have to look at the feasibility of it. We’re still hopeful but we have to be realistic as well.” Hayes said it’s possible the 10 shelter beds could still fit in the smaller space now available, but she said many funding avenues for facilities like this require some form of transitional housing. She said the task force was surprised and disappointed by the news it received from PDACL on Friday and have asked an architect and development consultant to have a second look at the facility to see what can be done in the smaller space. See WINTER SHELTER, page A4
J.R. RARDON PHOTO
LOSING LOCKS FOR A CAUSE: Ian Wetzel-Eden of the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP tries his hand at hairstyling while shaving the head of Shawne Munro during the Tour de Rock Berr and Burger Night at the Quality Inn Bayside on Thursday night. For more photos from Thursday night’s event, visit our facebook page, www.facebook.com/PQBNews and see Thursday’s edition of The NEWS for a story.
PALLIATIVE CARE
Five beds will open in October JOHN HARDING
editor@pqbnews.com
Island Health said it expects to have patients in its new, five-bed palliative care space in Trillium Lodge by mid-October. “Room enhancements” and interviews with potential staff are underway now, said Island Health’s Val Wilson. Located in the Eastwood East wing at Trillium Lodge residential care facility, the hospice space will provide patients and their families with clini-
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cal supports and care through to the end of life, Island Health said through a news release in August. The unit will include a private entrance and patio, with patients and their families having their own room and private bathroom. A dedicated and specially trained care team of nurses and personal care workers from Island Health will provide clinical care, along with a team of Oceanside Hospice Society staff and volunteers. Island Health CEO Dr. Brendan
Carr first announced these beds in April of 2014. “As part of the development of Island Health’s overall end of life plan, we have developed a bed plan for beds in community and hospital settings,” Carr said in an e-mail to The NEWS. “The bed plan is based on ‘hospice clusters’ of four-six beds in various communities, including Oceanside. These beds will be located in established residential care settings and funded using existing resources.”
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