Cancer advocacy group targets $3.8m for 14-bed hospice

The Barbados Association for Cancer Advocacy has set an initial target of $3.8m to build a 14-bed hospice, as families continue to rely mainly on home-based care for terminally ill relatives.

Chairperson Jessica Odle-Baril told Barbados TODAY the association has raised $250 000 in seed funding towards the proposed facility, although the final construction cost could rise as building expenses increase.

“The numbers float and float,” Odle-Baril said. “We started, based on average-squarefoot of a 14-bed hospice, $3 million. But every month, building costs in Barbados [are] going up, so we, I believe, have to adjust our numbers based on… when the actuary does our accountant will do that to see if we really—I hope we don’t have to go as far as $5 million.”

Odle-Baril said that while initial estimates for the project fluctuate because of economic pressures, the association has established a starting figure to get the physical structure built. 

Addressing questions about the financial scope of the build-out, Odle-Baril said the initial figures had to be assessed against the realities of the local economy and rising material costs.

The BACA chair said the target focuses strictly on erecting the physical structure rather than fully outfitting it.

“The retrofit is a different costing, but we have good relations. We already have at least two hospital beds. We have a particular wheelchair, modern day upscale state-of-the-art piece. So, all of that has value, but we don’t include that in the cost of the buildout because the buildout is what we need to get this build out of the ground. So, we are targeting $3.8 million.”

On the timeline for completion, Odle-Baril said labour demands could pose a challenge to the construction schedule.

“We’ve got to start building first,” she said.

“Construction in Barbados, I’m hearing, is really complicated in terms of the amount of labour in the labour force and the amount of construction, which is a good thing that’s going on. So, we anticipate at least a two-year buildout. It’d be good to break ground at the start of the year.”

The association has also made recent leadership changes while refining its strategy to speed up fundraising efforts.

“We regrettably just lost our co-chairman,” Odle-Baril shared. “He passed from cancer. He was in the US when he passed, and we have two new trustees and talk about firebrand, we have one. So, we’re looking at different avenues to perhaps raise this money faster so we can actually get started.”

In the meantime, terminally ill patients across the island rely mainly on home-based care options. Odle-Baril highlighted the role of partner organisations in helping to meet current needs while the hospice project moves forward.

The Barbados Association for Palliative Care which offers an in-home hospice service,” she explained. “This is chaired by Deiann Sobers, who is a trustee of this organisation as well. So, she has a dual role, and we support their work. In the interim, if they need a hospital bed, they can use it for the duration of whatever the needs are for the patient.”

However, she said in-home care is not always a practical long-term option for every family because of space and financial limitations.

“Ideally, people want to die at home,” Odle-Baril said.

“Even some homes can’t even fit a hospital bed, and this is where hospice makes all the difference. It is also tremendously costly to have in-home hospice if you have to have your own private nurse… your palliation specialist. Where in a facility, the roles can be shared. More people, fewer staff, and a lot of staff in a hospice is volunteerism, and then you have your paid nurses and so on.”

Beyond the proposed facility, the association is preparing patient-mapping exercises to examine the wider care journey and patients’ experiences across public facilities, including specialised wards at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

“When we do our patient mapping, we’ll get a better sense of what the experience looked like wherever they were receiving their care and treatment,” she said.

“I am familiar that sometimes public health can take a little longer for you to get all the things that you need towards wellness, and that’s not a dereliction on the part of public health, but public health can only work within certain budgets, and as I said earlier, cancer is costly. And some cancers are untreatable, but you still want to have comfort and patient care.”

The organisation also aims to address challenges and post-treatment adjustments faced by cancer survivors, particularly the physical effects of aggressive therapies.

“When you are wriggled down with chemotherapy, which is usually the standard medication… you definitely feel different and your body reacts differently,” Odle-Baril said. “People need to know that it’s not the end of the world, that you can come through this, and that your body can regulate.”

(RR)