P r o m o t e d C o n t e n t
C R E A T E A L E G A C Y
P r o m o t e d C o n t e n t
Sick Kids
While medical care itself may be provided
by the provincial health authority,
supplementary care services—such as
out-of-hospital care for the families of sick
children—are largely supplied through
donations and the generosity of volunteers.
Ronald McDonald House is a home
away from home for seriously ill children
and their families when they have to
travel to Vancouver for treatment at BC
Children's Hospital. The irst Ronald
McDonald House in Vancouver, which
opened in 1983 in the neighbourhood
of Shaughnessy, only accommodated
13 families at a time—nowhere near
meeting the current need. However, in
June, Ronald McDonald House opened
both a brand-new, 73-bedroom house
at Children's Hospital, as well as a
four-bedroom Family Room at Surrey
Memorial Hospital, making B.C.'s Ronald
McDonald House program one of the
largest in Canada. With bedrooms as
well as kitchens, laundry facilities, play
areas and lounge spaces, "families can
get out of the hospital environment and
have that support and a little bit of a
break," says Richard Pass,
CEO of Ronald
McDonald House B.C.
The new facilities will do much to
meet the overwhelming need for family
accommodation, but will also increase
the program's operating costs, "and we
still have $1.7 million to raise of the total
$31-million capital campaign," says
Pass, making donations more necessary
than ever.
Canuck Place Children's Hospice,
B.C.'s recognized pediatric palliative care
provider, faces a similar challenge. "We
care for over 560 newborns, children and
teens with life-threatening illnesses and
their families through outreach programs
and two hospice locations: Vancouver
and Abbotsford," says
CEO Margaret
McNeil. "Canuck Place is currently serving
only 20 to 25 per cent of the provincial
need. We need to reach the 75 to 80 per
cent of children and families we are not
yet able to care for."
Canuck Place's second provincial
location in Abbotsford, which will open
in phases throughout 2017, is a big step
toward meeting that need.
"Our programs include clinical respite
and family support, pain and symptom
management, 24-hour phone consultation
support and in-house clinical care, art,
education, recreation therapy, grief
counselling, and end-of-life care. Our
