Hospice in the park: A 102-year-old institution re-opens in Hastings-Sunrise

Amidst the sprawling lawns of Burrard View Park, Cottage Hospice stands prominently in the centre. Built in 1924 as an orphanage for young children and infants, the building eventually became a hospice in 1999, providing end-of-life care in a home-like setting. 

The hospice closed in 2024 when its operator, The Bloom Group, formerly St. James Community Service Society, decided to transition away from hospice services. After a two-year hiatus, the 10-bedroom hospice reopened in early August with a new operator. 

“It felt like a tremendous opportunity,” Sarah Cobb, Executive Director of the Vancouver Hospice Society (VHS), told Vancity Lookout. Cottage Hospice is VHS’s second location in Vancouver, building on the success of the non-profit’s purpose-built facility in Shaughnessy, which opened near Granville Street and 32nd Avenue in 2014. 

The society’s expansion to Hastings-Sunrise is a natural next step in its mission to create “small home-like hospices in different neighbourhoods around Vancouver,” Cobb said. 

Unlike other hospices, which are often located in quieter settings, Cottage Hospice is unique because of its location in a busy public park. The building is surrounded by tennis courts, a playground and wading pool, a childcare centre, a fieldhouse used by other community groups, and a large off-leash dog park. 

Cobb said it’s a perfect situation to have the hospice next to a daycare, dogs, kids, and people living their lives. 

“Death should be integrated into our lives in a more regular way … we're all going to die, right? And yet, culturally, we are still in a bit of a death-denying society,” Cobb said, adding that she sees the overlap of these uses of the park as a good thing to get comfortable talking about death and life. 

Cobb shared a story about a family visiting a relative who had recently moved into Cottage Hospice, describing how they were barbecuing in the park and coming in and out of the hospice. 

“I thought, what a tremendous use of public space, to have this where people can take advantage of the park,” while seeing loved ones, Cobb said. “It's all about helping people live fully and comfortably right until the end of their life and supporting the people that are caring for them as well.”

For much of the 20th century, the Babies Cottage, as the Cottage Hospice was originally called, was part of a larger campus of social services and correctional institutions in Burrard View Park. 

Starting in 1906, the area was home to the Children’s Aid Society, better known as the Wall Street Orphanage, which was “sharply criticized for the quality of its care for children,” according to the Vancouver Heritage Foundation.  

The land was taken over by the city in the late 1920s, and, in 1930, the city built the Vancouver Juvenile Detention Home for “incorrigible” youth under the age of 18 beside the Babies Cottage. “This imposing building became notorious for its prison-like conditions … [including] a scandal in the 1940s for its overcrowded cells … and was demolished in 1976,” according to the Heritage Foundation. 

Just north of the hospice building, park visitors can still see the raised foundation of the detention centre. 

The city’s first family court was also established on the same site, between the Juvenile Home and the Cottage. There was even an underground tunnel connecting the court to the juvie building that youth facing charges would be taken through, according to Eve Lazarus, citing the work of local historian Aaron Chapman.    

In 2011, the government of Canada erected a plaque in front of Cottage Hospice, recognizing the work of Helen Gregory MacGill, who became the province’s first female judge in 1917. According to the plaque, MacGill helped establish the family court system and campaigned to improve the legal status of women through reforms to inheritance, property, and guardianship laws. MacGill worked in the family court at Burrard View from 1934 to 1945. 

In contrast to the site’s previous history, “the last few decades of hospice care happening in that space have been really positive,” Farquharson with VCH said, adding that “largely, credit goes to the community.” 

The Cottage building was in disrepair in the 1990s, and the St. James Society took it over “because the community lobbied for the building to have investment, to renovate it,” and to use it for hospice care, Farquharson said.

In 1999, the same year that the hospice opened, a pair of murders on nearby Wall Street shook the surrounding community. In an effort to make the neighbourhood feel safe again and get people out of their houses, one resident created a Christmas lights competition and fundraiser, which ran for 14 years, according to VIA. The new Cottage Hospice was named as the beneficiary.

Cottage Hospice is part of a small network of hospices in the city overseen by Vancouver Coastal Health. In addition to VHS’s two facilities, there are two other hospices, one in UBC and another in the Downtown Eastside, both operated by Providence Healthcare. 

“Our population is aging, so we're anticipating that there will be more need for hospice care in the future,” Vancouver Coastal Health’s (VCH) Kristen Farquharson told Vancity Lookout. 

The reopening of Cottage Hospice adds 10 rooms to the health authority’s portfolio, bringing the total to 38 citywide, including UBC. Farquharson explained that there are times when there’s a waitlist for hospice beds and other times when someone can get in right away. 

“It really fluctuates … there isn't necessarily a pattern,” to the varied demand for hospice care, Farquharson said, adding that hospice is just one part of the palliative care services that VCH offers. “Some people want hospice, some people need to be in hospital, and others wish to be at home and to access services there … it's really about having an array of services that can flex based on the need,” she explained. 

Farquharson said that all of the new beds at Cottage Hospice should be filled by the end of the month.  

In addition to its hospice services, VHS also offers free counselling and bereavement support groups for anyone experiencing the loss of a loved one. 

“We're really passionate about making sure that our care doesn't end when people's loved ones die,” Cobb said. “People can just call us. They don't need to have gone through either of our hospices.”

The building itself is owned by the city, managed by the park board, and leased to Vancouver Coastal Health, which then contracted Vancouver Hospice Society to be the hospice operator. “It’s very much a collaboration,” Cobb said. 

Farquharson wasn’t able to share any details about the length of the VCH’s lease, as those negotiations are ongoing. However, a recently approved park board report laid out the specifics of a 10-year lease with VCH, with two opportunities for five-year renewals, for a total of 20 years. 

According to the park board, VCH would pay just over $54,000 per year in rent and taxes for use of the space. In addition, VCH is paying approximately $600,000 for initial building upgrades, and has committed to spend an additional $55,000 per year for facility maintenance and repairs. 

The park board and Vancouver Coastal Health are also still in negotiations over the use of a self-contained meeting room on the ground floor of the hospice. Cobb said they would like to use the space for some of VHS’s bereavement programming for the wider community. Park board staff recommended that the room also remain available to rent out through the Hastings Community Centre. 

Park board commissioners unanimously approved staff’s recommendations to proceed with the lease under those terms. 

Commissioner Scott Jensen said he’s heard from neighbours who are very supportive of the hospice being re-opened. They want the building to be in good repair, and to have the tenants, families, and operators bring activity and vibrancy to the site for the betterment of the park, Jensen shared.  

Cobb with Vancouver Hospice Society said anyone who wants support, has questions, or wants to get involved with the group’s volunteer program or community events can get connected by phone, email, or through VHS’s social media.