A New Home for Hospice

As some of you may be aware the Nelson Tasman Hospice is building a new facility in Suffolk Road,
Stoke.
Why, you might ask? There are a few reasons, mainly because Manuka Street private hospital is
expanding and they asked us to move.
People are also living longer and that has an impact on the service we provide to the community.
Our services are increasingly for all age groups and diverse circumstances.
We also need a new home as we are currently scattered between the In-patient unit, Eden Villa on
Manuka St, a house on Tasman St and a portacom. The new facility will include better provision for
our significant outreach service, better space for families, improved space for staff and volunteers
and a family flat for people to stay in.
For anyone who hasn’t been touched by hospice care, it’s a free service provided to those who have
a terminal illness. We provide people with relief from symptoms, pain and the physical and mental
stress of an illness. We not only care for the patient but their family as well.
We look after around 160 patients at any one time, mainly in their own homes and rest homes and
at the hospice.
The philosophy is to help people in their last days live their lives to the fullest. We know that
terminal illness doesn’t discriminate – one in three of us will need specialist palliative care whether
for ourselves or for someone we love.
Since I’ve been in this role, I have been amazed at the affection the community across the region has
for our hospice. I can see why as the medical staff are utterly dedicated to helping patients and their
families.
I have also been humbled by the families of patients who have been willing to tell their stories to
help raise the profile of the hospice during this campaign.
One such example is the lovely Morehu whose father Andy is in respite care. She wrote a card to
staff, thanking them for looking after her dad and for the Milos. Morehu became a star of our video
which you can see here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNl2MOlOKv4
This new build, which started last September, is the most exciting project in the hospice’s 30-year
history. We’ve been working with Gibbons, Irving Smith Architects and Canopy Landscape Architects
on the project which is due for completion at the end of the year.
As part of the fundraising effort, we have been offering naming rights to the rooms and asking
individuals for significant donations.
In the next few months, I will update you on the build and the fundraising effort and an exciting
opportunity as to how you might be able to contribute. We will also be profiling some of the people
who work at the hospice as the service we provide would be nothing without our staff.
If you want to know more about the new build campaign, check out our facebook site, email me
paul.mcintyre@nelsonhospice.org.nz or call me on 027 5481845.