The 100th birthday of the Auxiliary to the University Hospital of Northern B.C. was celebrated Wednesday with an unveiling of a plaque in the atrium - and the announcement of a major upgrade to Jubilee Lodge.
Each of the Auxiliary, Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation and Northern Health have committed $100,000 to the project for a grand total of $300,000.
Spirit of the North CEO Judy Neiser said the idea is to focus on seniors for a change.
"Quite often infants and children are the primary (targets) of funding but we don't necessarily look after seniors and people that have been in the community for a long time," Neiser said. "So we decided that Jubilee Lodge was in bad need of refurbishing and so it's $300,000 that will go to refurbishing and patient care improvements in Jubilee Lodge."
Attached to UNHBC and adjacent to 15th Avenue, it holds 66 beds spread over a series of one-, two- and four-bed units. The Lodge is 50 to 60 years old by Neiser's estimation.
Details on exactly how the money will be used are still to be worked out, but over the years there have emerged "different and innovative ways for restructuring a care home."
"There are ways that they can make it safer, there are ways that they can make it more comfortable and they can make it more appealing for residents to live there," she said.
As an example, Neiser said each wing can be assigned a specific colour to make it easier for patients with dementia to find their way back to their rooms.
The project will take about a year to complete, in no small part because they want to proceed with the least disruption to the patients.
Over the century it has been going, the Auxiliary has provided over one million hours of volunteer service and, through the Hospital Gift Shop and the Thrift Shop on 3rd Avenue, has raised $5.6 million. It all started with a gift of $500 for an X-ray machine.
