Foothills Country Hospice breaks ground for upcoming expansion

The Foothills Country Hospice just took a significant step toward expansion.

On Tuesday, June 13, they held a ground breaking ceremony for their 12,000-square-foot expansion.

Among those in attendance were hospice founders, board members, volunteers, as well as representatives from the Town of Okotoks and the Government of Alberta.

The discussion about expanding the facility started about seven years ago. However, Executive Director Shaun Dyer describes it as merely a continuation of the service the hospice has been providing since it first opened.

"You've got to go back to the early 2000s when a group of very passionate community members here in the Foothills really wanted to see a hospice built here in the community because they believe in end-of-life and palliative care. What's important to point out is that people don't come to hospice just to die, people come to hospice to live well until the end of their life. That's really the gift we offer to our residents. That was really the vision of the founders that built this place."

Work on the new building will begin in the summer, and the expansion will extend to the original building.

"We're doing this in phases, so the first phase is to build the new thing. We believe that's going to start in July and that's probably a 12 to 14 month process. Once the new wing is built, we're going to renovate the existing space, bring it up to modern standards. Then we'll move everybody in. We're looking at late 2024," says Dyer.

Having so many supporters and representatives attend the ceremony reflects the nature of the hospice, says Dyer.

"What's really important to remember about the Foothills Country Hospice is that it's a very organic, grassroots place. What we wanted to do today in creating this ground breaking ceremony was to bring that into the ceremony. Everybody came together to put this on today, I think that's a really accurate reflection of what this hospice is about, people take ownership of it, they believe in this place so much that they invest in it."