Elisabeth Hinton: ‘the best of what nursing has to offer’
Thursday December 6, 2007 -- Deron Hamel
She was kind, caring and compassionate. She was loved by residents and co-workers. She reflected OMNI Health Care’s core values. These are just a few of the ways Carolyn Della Foresta and Candace Chartier remember Elisabeth Hinton.

Hinton, the only director of care Garden Terrace has ever had, passed away Nov. 28, aged 62. A mother and grandmother, Hinton was devoted to her family as well as to the residents at the Kanata long-term care home, says Della Foresta, the home’s administrator.

Born Elisabeth Tham in Stockholm, Sweden, Hinton immigrated to the United States when she was 20. Her work as a nurse would eventually take her to Canada, where she and her husband settled and raised a family.

Elisabeth Hinton

Always a calming presence at Garden Terrace, even under the most stressful circumstances, Hinton is remembered as someone who exemplified everything a caregiver should be.

“She was a strong nurse with a very kind heart; she really was the epitome of what a nurse is,” says Della Foresta. “She was the best of what nursing has to offer.”

A strong team member who was actively involved with policy development, Hinton came to Garden Terrace in November 2002, shortly after it opened. From the day she started, Hinton worked tirelessly to ensure the home’s nursing department was top notch, recalls Chartier, OMNI’s chief operating officer.

“She definitely ensured that Garden Terrace flourished under her leadership in the nursing department and will always have a special place in our hearts as growing Garden Terrace to where it is today,” says Chartier.

“We will all miss her dedication, spirit and kind smile and we will always remember what she did for us in being a part of the OMNI family.”

Staff members at Garden Terrace want to ensure Hinton’s memory lives on.

One of the projects Hinton and Della Foresta had recently worked on was creating a resource room for residents and their families to access information. When the room is unveiled in early 2008, it will be christened the Elisabeth Hinton-Hayes Family-Staff Resource Room.

The loss has been difficult for some of the residents at Garden Terrace and their families. To keep everyone in the fold about the situation, Della Foresta has been in constant contact with residents and their families to offer support and to help ease concerns about the future of the home.

Della Foresta has assured residents and their families that the home will carry on the way Hinton would have wanted it.

“I’m incredibly confident that her wish for us would be that we move forward, and that we continue to provide the quality care that we’re known for and that she worked so hard to achieve,” she says.