Hospice SENB residential facility, Pleasant Street, Moncton (Image by RL)
Hospice Southeast New Brunswick has celebrated the official opening of the new Maison Albert House.
Dignitaries were on hand on Thursday to cut the ribbon on the ten-bed residential hospice, the first of its kind in the region.
Twelve full-time and nine part-time nurses and support care workers staff the hospice and will be assisted by trained volunteers.
Operated by Hospice Southeast New Brunswick, the 12,300 square foot facility has four family rooms, a commercial kitchen and dining room, a sunroom and other common areas for residents and their families.
“This is a new era for our organization and a great step in enhancing the quality of life for the citizens of this region,” said Dennis Cochrane, past president of the Hospice Southeast New Brunswick board of directors.
“We are the largest and fastest-growing region in the province but did not have a residential hospice to serve our citizens. Now we have a state-of-the-art facility that is a model in palliative care and has been built to serve southeast New Brunswick for generations to come.”
Located on Pleasant Street in Moncton’s east end, Maison Albert House welcomed its first palliative care residents two weeks ago.
The new facility is named after Albert Arsenault, the father of one of Hospice SENB’s major donors, Denis Arsenault.
“There are only 13 palliative beds in the two major hospitals that serve our area, and our 10 beds will help alleviate the pressure on those hospitals because of the demand for those rooms,” said Hospice SENB’s new board chair Irenée (Rene) Bourque.
“It is also more cost-efficient because a hospice room is typically much less expensive than a hospital room and provides a more accessible, quiet and comfortable setting for both the resident and their loved ones. Our rooms are spacious, and we have ample common areas and amenities for family and friends. We’ll even be pet-friendly!”
Serving Albert, Kent and Westmorland counties, residents admitted to Maison Albert House are referred by the New Brunswick Extra-Mural Program, in consultation with their doctor.
