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Palliative Care
Being a premier retirement condominium, Hearthstone by the Bay is extremely proud and honored to offer palliative services to the residents and families. It was our dream to offer this service due to the lack of palliative resources in the community. We believe dying deserves dignity, and the ability to do so in one’s home with family surrounding makes it a meaningful experience.
Hearthstone partners with a community based Palliative Doctor who does weekly in suite visits. Our nurses and PSW’s are part of the circle of care working under the supervision of the physician. Pain management, physical care, and emotional support are intertwined to bring a peaceful end to life’s journey.
Hearthstone has delivered these services to countless families. Each and every one of these experiences bringing with it praise, thankfulness, and a deep sense of meaning.
Please contact the Director of Wellness at ext 2204.
Here is what some families have said.
April 12, 2020
Dear Hearthstone by the Bay:
I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you, and the wonderful team of devoted souls who cared so well and lovingly for Danny, to the very end of his life. I would request that you share this email with all the Nurses and Personal Support Workers who were on Danny’s Team. In the early stage of his final journey, he was fully aware of you all and enjoyed all the attention and care you showered upon him. And I know he continued to be comforted by your presence and attention even when he could no longer communicate with us.
Words cannot express my gratitude to each and every one of you. You are an exceptional group of dedicated professionals and it was also my honour to have the privilege to not only share this time with Danny, but also to have the opportunity to know each of you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your caring of me, as well as Danny.
At some time in the future, I sincerely hope we can all gather together to celebrate Danny’s life, in the way he would have liked, and at the same time to show you our joint gratitude for your service to him.
In these very difficult and challenging times, you all continue to do your jobs and serve your resident-patients with skill and compassion, while possibly risking your own health. You are the true heroes for our society and we are forever in your debt.
Anne Spencer
March 15, 2020
Hearthstone By the Bay Residence
3 Marine Parade Drive
Etobicoke Ontario M8V 3Z5
A Letter of Recommendation for Hearthstone Nursing and PSW Teams
When our family started looking for a new residence for my father in the summer of 2018, friends advised me to ensure that we look for a place where we could have professional care services in the event that we needed it in the future. These were smart words of advice!
Due to an underlying condition, my fathers’ health started to decline, and we were fortunate to be able to access the nursing team at Hearthstone immediately. They were responsive, knowledgeable, helpful and informative. They also helped my family with his medication management and ongoing monitoring – they were gracious and engaging with my dad. The fact that they were in house and available 24 hours was remarkable and as a family it provided a great deal of relief and confidence – it also meant we did not have to run to an emergency room or family doctor with every issue.
Over the next few months, my fathers’ condition deteriorated quickly – after a 9 day stay in hospital – my dad was back home to Hearthstone and the Nursing and Management team there worked very quickly to provide me with 24 hour care. They set it up in less than a week. My father was frail, weak, mentally exhausted and in extreme physical pain. For the next 3 months we had the most remarkable team of Personal Service Workers (PSWs) who helped my father and our family from everything like making a simple cup of tea to breakfasts, showers, walking, medication management and friendship. My father is was a proud man so having help was not something he desired. However, he quickly started to enjoy the company and support the PSW team brought him and was often heard saying he was ”didn’t know how he could get by without them”.
In the last 6 weeks of his life, my father needed more personal care support and the PSW team were able to meet all his needs. They exhibited solid training in dealing with the challenges he faced, recommended appropriate aids and physical supports (wheel chairs, abodes, shower seats etc), where needed. They were an invaluable support to our family – we slept at night because they were watching over him.
My father could have spent his last weeks in a hospice facility – but as a family and knowing his wishes we knew that keeping him at Hearthstone was the better choice for him. Given the care, knowledge and compassion of our PSW and Nursing team, my father was one of their own. Many of the younger girls thought of him as another “grand dad” or “uncle”. They cared for him as if he was an extension of their family.
I doubt our experience is different to those who have lived at Hearthstone before us… because I believe the heart of Hearthstone is in the people it hires and trains – they genuinely care for those they take care of. We had made the right decision choosing Hearthstone.
If anyone should like to reach out to me or my family, please feel free to do so.
Karen Auslander
