Respite available

Letters

Editor: The Bulletin's recent focus on health included a valuable overview of health service options available in these changing times. (Bulletin, June 7 cover story) Everyone should understand what alternatives there are to long-term care for seniors and people with chronic health conditions. I would like to tell Bulletin readers about another very unique service that can really make a difference for families who are looking after a loved one.

The VON Family Respite Centre is operated by the Victorian Order of Nurses, B.C. branch, a 104-year-old, Canadian, nonprofit organization. It is currently located at 62nd and Manitoba. The centre is a safe, homelike environment where caregivers receive temporary care for their family members who have mental and physical frailties. A dedicated nursing team offers personal care, assistance with daily living activities and advanced recreational and therapeutic programs. Guests can stay up to 30 days at a time, and families can contact the VON Family Respite Centre directly at 604-327-9525 – they don't need to go through a case manager.

Residents of Vancouver and Richmond can stay at the centre. This unique community-based program is not yet available to residents in other areas, but information about the respite beds available in long-term care facilities in other parts of the Lower Mainland and elsewhere in British Columbia can be provided by local health authority offices.

The VON Family Respite Centre is funded by the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority and relies on charitable donations to support program and equipment costs. The centre currently rents space from Providence Health Care at the St. Vincent's-Langara site and will be relocating to a beautiful, newly constructed space at Fair Haven United Church Home on East 49th Avenue within the next couple of months.

I hope Bulletin readers who have need of this unique service will call the VON Family Respite Centre to find out more, and let others know too.

Heidi Mannis
Director, community health services,
Victorian Order of Nurses, B.C. branch

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