The Saanich Peninsula Hospital & Healthcare Foundation has been fundraising on the peninsula since 1985. Their mission is to provide up-to-date facilities, innovative programs, and proactive solutions, to support the health, wellness, and sustainability of the Saanich Peninsula and the Southern Gulf Island communities.
One of the areas of the Saanich Peninsula Hospital that has benefited from incredible donor support is the Long-term Care unit. It is home to 150 residents, with unique and often complex needs.
Thanks to the financial support of donors to the Foundation, staff at the Long-term Care have been able to research and introduce new techniques and therapies to ensure that residents receive the benefit of cutting-edge innovations in care.
There are a number of residents in Long-term Care who are over 100, a testament to the healthy population we have in our community.
For a fundraising campaign to bring additional resources and therapy tools to the unit, we asked some residents if they would like to be involved: by having their photos taken, and sharing their stories.
Dot was one of the residents who gamely accepted. She was an exceptional example of how old age doesn’t have to hold you back. Dot recently passed away and we wanted to take this opportunity to remember her, and share her story.
Dot’s feisty nature and enthusiasm to participate marked her time at the Saanich Peninsula Hospital’s Long-term Care. The Foundation is especially grateful that at the age of 102 Dot was happy to be ‘poster girl’ for the current fundraising campaign: her family was proud to see her face “all over town” and glad her story was shared.
Dot would admit to being “an ornery type”, though the incredible smile she gave while saying that suggested something different! You might not have guessed that she was 102, especially if you were to have seen her joining in with all the leisure activities that the hospital provides. The art classes at McTavish Academy were an especial hit, but you’d also find Dot out in the garden, playing bingo, joining in at sing-along and participating in all the exercise classes.
She worked at the Royal City Sawmills in New Westminster, straight from school. She worked as a grader – it was a really unusual role for a woman to do at that time (taking the exam it was Dot and 50 men!). She could still remember the exact actions she had to take, and the size of the lumber as it came from the machine, and how she had to flip it up, examine it, and grade it based on all the flaws. She worked with a tallyman who recorded all the information as she graded the lumber. It was quite a responsible role, and she “LOVED my job. And it was Union wages!” It’s hard to imagine the things she would have experienced over her many years at the lumberyard. She was never afraid to stand up for herself, “it’s a wonder I didn’t get fired several times!”
Dot spent her life hunting and fishing “in the real wild”. She had fun memories of playing hooky at school, making mischief with school friends. She would tell you that hospital life didn’t suit her really, but she certainly made the best of it.
Activity and engagement are extremely important for all of the Saanich Peninsula Hospital’s Long-term Care residents. Until recently all of these community members lived independently – it’s hard to give up that part of your life and adapt to a new environment with its own routines. We know the staff at the Long-term Care work tirelessly to give the best possible experiences.
You can help too by providing resources that will keep residents comfortable, active, engaged and supported during their time there. These are the people who raised us, taught us and took care of our safety. Now it is time to take care of them.
The Saanich Peninsula Hospital & Healthcare Foundation believes that with donors’ help, we can all get better at getting older.
Donate at www.sphf.ca
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