JoeAnna’s House first opened in 2019 and in only five years, the Kelowna, B.C.-based facility is moving ahead with expansion plans.
“We are at full capacity all of the time now for the past nine months,” said Darlene Haslock.
JoAnna’s House is only steps away from Kelowna General Hospital (KGH) and functions like a home away from home for out-of-town families of loved ones seeking medical care at the hospital.
“It takes the stress out of it,” said Nelson resident Sharon Browning, whose partner has a nearly two-month stay at the hospital after suffering his second stroke. “I have no transportation and I can walk and see him every day.”
Brad Howard, also from Nelson, said JoeAnna’s House not provides a place to sleep but emotional support as well.
“You’re dealing with life and death and everybody here has a loved one that’s not in a good place,” a tearful Howard told Global News.
Howard’s wife Carol was admitted to hospital last weekend due to a post-cancer operation infection and possible heart issue.
He said being just steps away from the hospital gives him some comfort.
“If they do something at 2:00 in the morning or something goes sideways or tilt, I can be there,” Howard said.
But securing a spot at the 20-room facility has become increasingly challenging.
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Howard said that when his wife had her initial cancer surgery in July, he was unable to get a room.
“I applied but I didn’t get in,” he said “They were full.”
The director of JoeAnna’s House, Darlene Haslock, said the facility has been at full capacity for the past nine months.
“Just in this last year, we’ve turned away over 900 families. It’s heart-wrenching,” Haslock said. “We hear the stories: I am sleeping in my car, I am sleeping in the hallway in the hospital, people are tucking away wherever they can to be close to their loved one.”
Haslock said it’s especially difficult for those on a budget or during the peak tourist months.
“It’s so expensive. There’s no place to stay. Hotels are full,” Haslock said.
Haslock added that as services have grown at KGH, so too has the demand at JoeAnna’s House.
“When I think back, the KGH Foundation has built so much of this hospital in the last 10 years,” she said. “When you think about the cardiac wing and the stroke and the NICU.
“So prior to having all of those things, those people weren’t necessarily coming but now we’ve built this incredible hospital, and people are coming to us from everywhere within Interior Health.”
The capacity issue is now fast-tracking plans to expand the 20-room facility by adding another 10 rooms.
An official $5.5 million campaign will be launched later this month to get the expansion project off the ground.
If all goes according to plan, it’s hoped the project will be complete in two years’ time.
You can visit the JoeAnna’s House website for more information or to donate.
According to Interior Health, 25 per cent of all patients at KGH at any give time are from outside of the Central Okanagan.
