No longer just a hospice, John Gordon Home now helps HIV/AIDS patients learn to live

Twenty five years since opening its doors as one of Canada's first hospices for people living with HIV/AIDS, London's John Gordon Home continues to serve the community.

Back in the 1980s and 90s, senior director Bruce Rankin worked as a volunteer with what was then called the AIDS Committee of London.

He remembers those early days, when the AIDS epidemic was marked by fear, discrimination and misinformation.

"I saw people in hospital with full-blown AIDS who were treated like they were toxic waste," he said. "People would gown up, glove up, put on masks to deliver a food tray to somebody. It was just really sad."

It was about this time that a London student named John Gordon became the first HIV-positive person in southwestern Ontario to go public with his condition.

Gordon died in 1992 and the new hospice - the first hospice to open in London -was named after him.

Since then it's followed the mantra of a "house with a heart," providing care and housing for its residents in a home-like setting.

The "heart" component of this is crucial because at the time gay mena group already stigmatized before AIDSformed the bulk of the patients. Many were ostracized by their families, left to face alone a diagnosis that at the time was almost always fatal.

"John Gordon Home developed as a place were people could have a more dignified end-of-life experience," said Rankin.

The nine-bed facility now located on Pall Mall Street has private rooms, a communal kitchen and a garden.

The advent of retrovirus drugs has changed everything for people living with HIV/AIDS. A diagnosis is now often no longer a death sentence, but that hasn't eliminated the need for John Gordon Home.

Now along withend-of-life care, many of its residents requirewhat Rankincalls "transitional care." Patients now typically come toget stabilized post-diagnosis. The staff help them develop a care plan, arrange medical care and develop healthy eating habits.

"What we're doing today is supporting people who've been diagnosed, but are facing barriers to getting treatment," he said.

Instead of being a last stop, John Gordon Home now helps its clients transition into healthy living. Typically, patients stay less than a year before moving out on their own or into an assisted living facility.

And though fewer patients are dying, HIV/AIDS has not gone away.

In fact, London is currently dealing with a serious outbreak of both HIV and hepatitis C.

• London declares 'health emergency' over rise in HIV and hepatitis C

Where once residents were almost entirely gay men, now John Gordon Home is helping patients who often have a history of drug use, homelessness, mental healthand addiction issues.

For example, it's not uncommon for today's John Gordon home to care for people with a history of crystal meth use.

"We just haven't been prepared for some of the behaviours with heavy use of that drug," he said.

Despite the new challenges, Rankin is confident John Gordon Home which is now part of the Regional HIV/AIDS Connectionwill help people with the disease for years to come.

"We know that the stigma [about AIDS] is still there," he said. "It's diminished but it's still there."