Hospice Marlborough extension open

BY PENNY WARDLE

Hospice friends, family and funders yesterday celebrated the opening of an extension to the Hospice Marlborough building alongside Wairau Hospital.

Guests were welcomed by the Salvation Army brass band and speakers highlighted the productive partnership between the Army, the Marlborough Hospice Trust and the Nelson Marlborough District Health Board.

The Salvation Army is the service provider at the hospice, employing all staff and overseeing administration. This arrangement was unique in New Zealand if not the world, Salvation Army Commissioner Don Bell said.

Marlborough Hospice chairman Gerald Hope said the Salvation Army had the community at heart.

Its involvement began with the late Rex Watchman, a Rotarian and Salvation Army member who, in the words of his son Stuart, "worked very hard on getting the original project up and running. It was almost an obsession for him".

"Dad felt the expansion was needed from the start," Mr Watchman said.

Rex Watchman's widow, Audrey Watchman, cut the ribbon which marked the opening of the extension.

Mr Bell said a more than threefold increase in the number of volunteers helping out at the hospice – from 70 when the facility opened in 2003 to 228 now – was a mark of the Marlborough community's support.

Major Campbell Roberts of the Salvation Army said this meant the care offered to the terminally ill in Marlborough was among the best in New Zealand.

Under health funding formulae, the district was entitled to 2.4 hospice beds and many much bigger communities had only six.

The extension includes two new beds meaning six rather than four patients can now be cared for at a time.

Mr Hope thanked all those involved with building and landscaping the extension, saying that the project had come in only $3000 over estimates. Private and family contributions towards costs were greatly appreciated.

The extension cost $500,000 and charitable grants organisations provided $350,000 of that money, with the balance coming from donations by individuals and families. No community fundraising was required.

Palliative care service manager Jenny Black told The Marlborough Express demand for the hospice's services had outgrown supply.

At any one time there were 60 to 70 patients on the palliative care programme receiving 24/7 care on-call. These people were looked after by a medical multi-disciplinary team of 36 mostly part-time staff supported by 228 rostered volunteers.

A special spot in the extension is a quiet room featuring contemplative stained-glass windows designed by Marlborough artist John Parker. There is also a dedicated community office for palliative care nurses who were added to the hospice team in 2005, an extended nurses' station, a meeting room and a new toilet off a therapeutic bathing suite.

The Nelson Marlborough District Health Board provides 70 per cent of the hospice's funding and the community (thorough the Marlborough Hospice Trust) 30 per cent. In the early days, the reverse funding formula applied.

Members of the public are welcome to an open day at the extended hospice on Sunday at 3pm, following tours for volunteers and regular financial contributors earlier in the day.

- The Marlborough Express