Sydney native, Danny Patterson, recalls as if it were yesterday, how he came to be one of the Eastern Zone’s many dedicated Palliative Care volunteers. “My father was in palliative care. I walked in the room one day and there was a volunteer sitting there. You’d swear she was his daughter; she was treating him so good. I thought, Wow. Because you feel no one can treat your loved one like you can.”
Maria Nemer grew up in the desert-like climate of inland Mexico. Preparing Nova Scotia healthcare facilities for emergencies such as hurricanes and flooding wasn’t the career path she expected.
“But I found I have a real passion for emergency preparedness,” she said. “It’s not a case of if we’re going to have a hurricane, if we’re going to have coastal flooding, or if we’re going to have another pandemic. It’s a question of when these things will happen and being prepared for them.”
In March 2022, Hospice Cape Breton began accepting patients. A stand-alone, home-like health care facility, located on land that was donated by Membertou First Nation, Hospice Cape Breton provides care for patients nearing the end of life. The hospice was established through the long-standing partnership of the Hospice Palliative Care Society of Cape Breton County and Nova Scotia Health. To mark a year since the hospice began accepting patients, members of the hospice team and the Hospice Society shared their reflections on the hospice’s impact.
