In an ongoing effort to both improve Canmore General Hospital and the lives of those who use its services or call it home, the Canmore and Area Health Care Foundation continues raising funds to initiate change.
Currently, the foundation has raised about $500,000 of its goal of $1.5 million and, with an eye toward ensuring the Golden Eagle View Long-term Care Unit feels more like home than a home away from home, has upgraded dining room furniture, with renovations scheduled for the near future.
The dining room is the hub of Golden Eagle View as the spot where the current 23 residents dine, meet with family and enjoy social activities, and recently benefited from a $30,000 upgrade to tables and chairs as part of the foundation’s Feels Like Home project.
“AHS (Alberta Health Services) will probably not do any renovations in that unit and it’s very, very old,” said Soulafa Al-Abbasi, foundation executive director. “It’s not a large priority, so we’re filling the gap.
“A couple of years ago we had consultations with residents, staff and an architect, looked at other facilities and decided where funds should go. It (Golden Eagle View) hasn’t been touched since the early 1980s, but for people who live there, it’s their home, families visit and we want it to be a welcome space.
“Improvements help for people with dementia and we want it to be livable and functional, like home, and make sure residents’ quality of life is improved.”
Overall, the concept for Golden Eagle View is ‘a small town’ like Canmore itself, “like a Canmore within the hospital,” said Al-Abbasi.
Beyond the dining room furniture, renovations to the dining room are envisioned, with a donor picking up the tab for the work. There is no timeline for the renos, but they are “top of mind,” said Al-Abbasi. As well, a more welcoming entranceway is being imagined.
While the three- to five-year $1.5 million fundraising target was set in 2016, projects have been broken down into more easily managed, and funded, segments; dining room furniture upgrades being one.
The project is broken up into five components: The dining room/beauty salon, the resident rooms, common use and living spaces, the unit entrance and nurses desk, and the brand-new addition of a large solarium off the north side of the department.
As with past efforts in the cancer clinic and birthing areas, Golden Eagle View improvements are dependent on generous donations. These include the sun room, entranceway and other items such as a fireplace.
“Funds for babies and the cancer clinic came in quickly,” said Al-Abbasi, “maybe the community can relate a little more. But with Golden Eagle View, I think most people know someone who is, or was, in there and we’re hoping for continued support.”
In the future, based on a wish list from hospital administration, expensive plans for emergency room improvement are in the works, but donations are accepted at any time. Donations may be part of a campaign or, if a person has specific wishes as to where a donation might go, that can be arranged as well.
“And if not attached to a specific cause, people can leave their donations with us and it will go to the area of greatest need,” said Al-Abbasi. “We’re constantly taking donations for other areas of the hospital.”
Since May 26, 1999, 225 residents have called the Golden Eagle View home.
To donate, or for more information, visit www.canmorehealthfoundation.com.
