Prince George was in for a real stroke of good luck when Donalda Carson decided to move here from Quesnel. Here is the story.
Donalda was born in Perth, Ont., in 1944. From high school, she went on to nursing school and became a nurse. The years went by and she eventually ended up in Quesnel along with her three young sons. Actually Donalda was flipping through the Canadian Nurse Magazine and saw a job opening for a head nurse for the medical floor and the intensive care unit in Quesnel. To make a long story short, Donalda applied and she got the job.
"I worked at the G. R. Baker Memorial Hospital in Quesnel right up to 1978 when I took on the position of administrator of the Dunrovin Lodge," she said. "I managed the lodge for the next seven years.
"The community of Quesnel is an awesome community and it was a great place to raise my three boys. However in 1985 a job posting came up at the Parkside and Rainbow Intermediate Care Home in Prince George and I applied for it. That started me on an entirely new venture in a new city."
Ten years later, Donalda found a great opportunity that really interested her and she went for it.
"I was hired by the Hospice Society to get B.C.'s first free-standing hospice house up and running," she said. "Because of my personal experience and my work experiences I felt that this job was the reason I was born. The Hospice Society had purchased a four bedroom wheelchair-accessible home. At the beginning the referrals were sporadic. I found that people did not really know what we were about; traditionally people were afraid of death. There was not enough money to operate a 24/7 facility, so major fundraising was needed. Besides me, the organization consisted of a volunteer coordinator (Esther Potter) and a vacant office position and a large number of volunteers.
"We had a slow start and launched an excessive public awareness program. People in general are fearful of death and dying so it was a huge challenge to have patients referred to our new service. There was confusion about referring patients to us as well, and often people were referred who needed long-term care. It required a lot of communication with Health Authority staff as well as an education for us as to how to cope with the situation if we admitted a guest whose life expectancy was several months. Our best care is provided for a person who has weeks, as opposed to months, left to live.
"Hospice nursing is the most rewarding work I have ever done because we make a difference; we provide care that relieves pain, fear and many other symptoms. We support people in an emotional time and we receive lots of 'thank yous' and many wonderful hugs."
"In 1999 we renovated to improve the space and in 2010 the Hospice House was expanded to 10 beds," Donalda explains. "In our 19 years, Hospice has grown and developed more comprehensive programs and became more connected with other healthcare practitioners. We have provided leadership and support in the development of other hospices in Canada.
"Northern Health has always been supportive and gradually Hospice has become more closely aligned with them for a truly great partnership."
Because of the desperate need for funding, the Hospice Society has developed various ways of raising money.
"We have a large donor base which we need to continue, and the Dream Home lottery is another important project that enables us to keep going," Donalda says. "People who have experienced the services of Hospice are very grateful and most often become regular annual donors. I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone that has supported the Hospice Society over these past two decades. We could not offer this service to the people of Prince George with out you."
Donalda, who is now 70 years old, tells me that she is looking forward to retirement in the very near future.
"I want to have time to spend with my family," Donalda said. "My son Joe and his wife Candace live in Quesnel and he works at the pulp mill, Mike (Pauline) works for Northern Chrysler as the parts manager and Brian (Anna) works in pipeline construction. I also have three grandchildren. I am so proud of my entire family. When I retire I want to get some physical exercise, travel and enjoy life with my partner Fred and all my family and friends."
The Hospice Society Dream Home Lottery tickets are now on sale. You can purchase tickets by calling the ticket hotline at 18664197604 or get them in-person at the Dream Home at 7648 Stillwater Cres.
The Dream Home is open for viewing and ticket sales from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day.
