January 25, 2019
Bev Hughes and his wife, Faye, enjoy the cosy Christmas glow of Moose Cottage at Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre.
Story & photo by Tracy Kennedy
RED DEER — Bev Hughes likely didn’t foresee frequenting Moose Cottage as a hospital patient when he attended its grand opening 25 years ago.
But the former Red Deer Regional Hospital board member, who was also a Red Deer Hospital Foundation board member and Red Deer city councillor, now regularly stops in for a cup of coffee when he needs a break from the stroke unit at Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre (RDRHC).
“It’s gratifying to introduce someone new to the facility,” says Hughes, now in his eighties, referring to the family members and friends who often join him there.
In fact, approximately 230,000 people have visited the space since it opened its doors on the third floor of the hospital.
Established by the Loyal Order of the Moose and the Women of the Moose in 1993, Moose Cottage is a respite from the clinical world of the hospital, a cosy space with tables and chairs for up to 24, a fireplace, a small kitchen where the coffee and tea is always on and, in December, cheerful holiday decorations including a Christmas tree.
Hughes and his wife Faye — who does much of the talking for her husband since a stroke this summer, as well as Parkinson’s disease, led to his hospital stay — says the cottage is a nice break from the hospital room.
“You get so tired of that,” says Faye. “Not that we don’t appreciate good hospital care and good nursing care, but at least when we’re down here visiting with other people and visiting with the volunteers and in a different environment, it feels like we’re normal people again.”
The volunteers bring much of the warmth to the space — also the site of life celebrations, wedding receptions, funerals and 100th birthdays — serving coffee and baked goods seven days a week with compassionate smiles and empathy.
Lorraine Corsiatto is one of those volunteers. She sees Moose Cottage as a key support system for patients.
“It’s important that they feel like they’re part of something,” Corsiatto says. “I just want to make a difference in people’s lives. It makes them happy when they come into this room; I can see the joy in their faces.”
And when a patient is experiencing health issues, joy can be in short supply.
That’s why Brenda Farwell, Alberta Health Services’ coordinator of Volunteer Resources at RDRHC, says the psychological support offered by Moose Cottage is so important.
“You see the lifting of spirits,” says Farwell. “Patients come in here and enjoy a hot cup of coffee, sweet treats, something homemade and it returns them to that home-like environment that they’ve maybe been missing while in hospital.”
For Bev, that means a connection to the things that are important to him, such as family and friends — who can visit comfortably as a larger group at the cottage. And barbershop singing and church, which the couple can link to when they visit the chapel next door, then come back to the cottage for coffee.
After 25 years, the community of compassion that he began with the establishment of Moose Cottage at Red Deer Regional is now there for him and his family, when they need it most.
