Today, the Teresa Dellar Palliative Care Residence was officially inaugurated. Paying tribute to co-founder Teresa Dellar, M.S.C., MSW, PSW, FT, who died on August 19, 2019, the name change honours her work bringing palliative care to the community, 20 years of inspirational, caring leadership and reinforces her vision and values that will live on at the Residence. The event also marked the closing of the “Caring & Sharing – Under One Roof” Capital Campaign which raised $14,570,000 million for the Residence to support the community with quality palliative care.

 

Teresa was truly a pioneer of palliative care, touching the lives of so many and engaging tremendous community support. Teresa’s vision, offering a serene and dignified experience for patients and their families were reinforced through the Capital Campaign. The project combined the two separate locations of the Residence into one expanded facility in Kirkland, Quebec. Patients and their families will all benefit from a home-like setting and many cozy common areas, making the most of their last
days. The new Residence also houses the Montreal Institute for Palliative Care, a centre dedicated to education and building palliative care knowledge with health care professionals and the public, also part of Teresa’s vision.

 

“I am excited to see Teresa Dellar’s legacy live on through our new identity. She was an admirable and strong woman who believed in dignity for all—she deserves nothing less than this homage and we are here to carry out her vision, giving patients the kind of care that would have made her proud. While we may not add days to life, we surely do add life to days,” said Dale Weil, Executive Director.

 

Tremendous contribution from the community
This major transformation of the facility would not have been possible without tremendous support from the community. “We would like to extend our sincere thanks to all those who contributed to the Caring & Sharing—Under One Roof capital campaign, which was launched in the spring of 2018. Thanks to your exemplary generosity, we were able to reach $14.6 million,” said Luc Bertrand and Erin O’Brien, co-chairs of the Campaign, “well over our original objective.”

 

As co-founder of the Residence, I am proud to see how the community is committed to honouring Teresa’s legacy through different initiatives such as establishing annual scholarships in Teresa’s name for nursing students at McGill University and Université de Montréal, and hosting an annual public event in her name to educate people about palliative care. I believe that through the combined efforts of our stakeholders and our dedicated team, we can continue to help more and more Canadians live
the final chapter of their lives in the most dignified and fulfilling manner possible” said co-founder Russell Williams.