Our campaign will raise $2 million for much needed equipment and renovations at SPH’s Long-term Care.
Staff at the Saanich Peninsula Hospital Long-term Care work tirelessly to give the best possible experiences, and care, to residents – you can help too by providing resources that will keep residents comfortable, active, engaged and supported during their time at the hospital. These residents are the people who raised us, taught us, and took care of our safety. Now it is time to take care of them.
Your help will ensure residents at SPH’s Long-term Care remain active, engaged and comfortable.
This year it is our goal to raise $2 million for needed upgrades and therapy tools for the SPH Long-term Care. Funds raised will be used for:
- Beds, bedside tables and over-bed tables
- Therapy Programs that enhance residents’ lives like horticulture/music/art therapy
- Equipment to keep brains active like the Bike Around with Google Street View, and Tovertafel (Magic Table)
- Updates and creation of more intimate spaces in the dining room
- Enhancements to the Memory Garden including a greenhouse for year-round therapy, a water fountain, a craft table, a vintage car and garden chairs.
Get to know some of our Long-term Care residents
Learn how resources keep residents comfortable, active, engaged and supported during their time at the hospital.
Ruth, 101
Be prepared to have your preconceptions challenged when you meet Ruth! Age and a change in circumstances have not diminished her keen sense of humour. Ruth feels fortunate that her son lives close enough to visit everyday. You’ll find the two of them playing crib and having a joke: they make quite the pair and have brought smiles to the Long-Term Care staff with their affectionate ribbing of each other! Until pneumonia brought Ruth to Saan Pen she lived independently. She misses her large patio garden where she would potter every day, and the easy camaraderie of people having a chat over the garden fence. Being restricted to a wheelchair means that simple things like a trip outdoors become much anticipated. If she had power mobility it would open the world back up for her a little.
Melita, 105
At 105 Melita has a wonderful variety of stories to share, and seems to have no trouble remembering the details. She’d be happy to tell you about her unusual name, talk about her life, and the happy years she spent living on Pender Island. Recently a change in circumstances at home meant Melita needed to move into hospital. She chose Saan Pen as it’s close to Pender, and she loves the openness and greenery surrounding it. One of the pleasures that Melita has experienced at the hospital is the company of the other residents she shares a room with. “I love sharing my room. Day by day I’m finding different things to appreciate in the ladies I share with. They have stories just like mine – I haven’t heard them all, but for sure they’re probably exciting.”
John, 77
Sitting with John it’s impossible not to find yourself smiling, his zest for life is infectious. Ask about some of the adventures he got up to driving trucks up and down the Island and a huge smile comes over his face. John took those driving skills and put them to good use not just at the Sidney and North Saanich fire departments, but also as a volunteer bus driver for Resthaven Lodge. Having suffered a stroke John now calls the Saanich Peninsula Hospital home, but he’s still a part of the same community he grew up in, lived, and worked in, with kids and grandnephews nearby. The stroke has limited John physically, but he is still as keen as ever to participate in life.
Elinor, 96
Elinor was brought up on James Island, just across the shore from Sidney. What fascinating memories she holds of life there in the 1930s! When her parents died Elinor took responsibility for raising her younger brother, who grew up to be the soccer player Ced Robb. Elinor herself has always been an exerciser. She played tennis for years, was an active gardener and took up Tai chi as she got older. It is frustrating for her to be “stuck in a wheelchair” now, but Saan Pen does offer modified exercise classes, including Qi gong, similar to Tai chi with its combination of movement, breathing and meditation.
Jean, 84
You have to listen closely as Jean is softly spoken since her stroke, but she has plenty to say. You could start by chatting about books. She’s been a reader all her life, and continues as an active member of a book club even though home is now the Long-Term Care unit of the Saanich Peninsula Hospital. Jean lived most of her life on her beloved Pender Island. Her father was a schoolteacher and ensured that Jean grew up very “hot on grammar”, and she followed in his footsteps becoming a teacher in the two-room Pender schoolhouse. The pair of them had a lasting impact on the Pender Island community starting the Pender Post in 1971. Coming from a small community Jean understands the importance of good neighbours, and the role community plays in everyone’s lives.
Dot, 102
Dot will admit to being “an ornery type”, though the incredible smile she gives while saying that suggests something different! You might not guess that she is 102, especially if you were to see her joining in with all the leisure activities that the hospital provides. The art classes at McTavish Academy have been an especial hit, but you’ll also find Dot out in the garden, playing bingo, joining in at sing-along and participating in all the exercise classes. Dot spent her life hunting and fishing “in the real wild”. She has fun memories of playing hooky at school, making mischief with school friends. She’ll tell you that hospital life doesn’t suit her really, but she seems to be making the best of it.
Examples of the therapies that we are fundraising to bring to our Long-term Care Unit.
About PARO the A.I. Seal
About Tovertafel or Magic Table
Donor Stories
All of our donors are special. We’d like to share with you a few donor stories that we think you’ll especially enjoy.
Donor Stories
All of our donors are special. We’d like to share with you a few donor stories that we think you’ll especially enjoy.
Commerce for Care
Corporate donations help take the pressure off Foundation operating costs.
Commerce for Care
Corporate donations help take the pressure off Foundation operating costs.
Legacy Giving
After talking to donors for 20 years, I know that some want to have an immediate impact; others want to leave a longer-lasting imprint.
Legacy Giving
After talking to donors for 20 years, I know that some want to have an immediate impact; others want to leave a longer-lasting imprint.
