Anyone who harbours doubts about Headwaters Health Care Centre should have a chat with Hannah Sawyer, the widow of Barry Laverne Sawyer, her husband for 45 happy years.

Hannah, who had been prepared by the family physician fairly well in advance of her husband's passing, was nonetheless somewhat apprehensive about having him spend his final days in an institution.

"It would have been my wish, and Barry's, to have him at home (in his final hours)," she said in an interview a couple of weeks after Barry's Aug. 25 funeral at the Salvation Army's New Hope Community Church.

But any misgivings she or Barry had were dissipated when he was admitted to palliative care, and Dr. Steven Munroe said, "This room is your home away from home," and described it as "the best of both worlds," or "a home away from home with trained medical staff outside the door."

Hannah, who would never embellish nor diminish truth, said Dr. Munro meant every word he said. "They (hospital personnel) were always helpful. They moved about unnoticed, always in the background. We never felt overpowered by medical personnel. We felt we were the most important people there."

In the 7 1/2 days that Barry was in the hospital before his death, Hannah said the facility was sufficiently open and comfortable that he truly did feel like he was at home. "If he had wished to come home, they would have provided for doctors to come to the house. (But) it became apparent that my husband felt safe there. He never asked to come home."

Although the hospital must have rules of some kind, Hannah said her husband had "dozens of visitors at all times of the day and night. He had a CD, TV and a fridge." Someone always stayed with Barry overnight, and slept on a pullout couch that the hospital provided. Drugs "on a comfort level" were never withheld. "Everyone treated us with compassion and respect."

Two events stand out in Hannah's mind. The first was when the staff allowed her to provide Barry with his shower, but the second might have been even more demonstrative of the hospital's efforts to accommodate.

"About three days before his death, we took Barry out for three hours. There was no objection from staff." She said they took him to watch his favourite team, the Orangeville Northmen Junior A Lacrosse Club. "He got his wish. They won."

Headwaters Health Care Centre, she said, "has got to be one of the best. I've heard a lot of comments (from people who) wouldn't think of (going to) Headwaters.

"It's a great facility. They're probably the first to admit they can't handle (everything), but they'll refer to larger ones if it's a situation they can't handle here. (In such cases) they're quick to refer."

Life sometimes has curious twists. Barry worked at Caledon Sand & Gravel for 35 years, and "didn't get to see his retirement." As well, he and Hannah had begun negotiations for a retirement home not long before his death, and had sold their longtime residence in an older part of Orangeville.

Hannah's son Scott said his parents had always wanted a home in the country. They opted for a home with an in-town country setting. It was a dream home that Barry never got to live in.

The shock and stress of the summer - the death, the funeral and the move - might have been made easier by the kind of care given by Headwaters plus, say both Hannah and Scott, the alacrity with which friends and acquaintances suddenly showed up to help in any way they could with anything.