Church Conversion Turns Former Parish into Palliative Care Center

In this series of articles about churches converted to other functions, LoopNet is exploring how religious spaces can be repurposed for myriad uses. In the series’ first installment, we explored Notre-Dame-de-Fatima Church, which was transformed into the Centre de Création de Boisbriand, on Montreal’s North Shore.

For this second article in the series, we are focusing on St Raphael’s, a palliative care and day center situated in Montreal’s Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood, previously known as Saint Raphael the Archangel Church.

In 1928, the archbishop of Montreal wanted to establish an Irish Catholic church for the English-speaking community in the upscale Montreal neighborhood of Outremont, which led to the creation of the Saint Raphael the Archangel parish in 1930, according to the Québec Religious Heritage Council.

Church construction began in 1932 and continued into 1933 under the direction of Canadian architect Grattan D. Thomson, also known for Montreal landmarks such as the Roddick Gates at McGill University and the Cadbury Factory.

Gerald Sinel, though he was more commonly known in the community as “Father Gerry” — worked as a chaplain with the dying at St. Mary’s Hospital for a decade. He also served at six different parishes during his 42-year career and assumed his final position at Saint Raphael the Archangel Church. “He had a community of worshippers that came from all over town, from Montreal West to NDG, to hear him speak on Sundays,” explained Marco Ottoni, vice president of the board of directors at St. Raphael’s.

Father Gerry hoped that the church would become a palliative care center if it had to close its doors, which happened a year after his passing, in 2008, due to a lack of funds. “It’s an extension of his mission, but in a more important way. We have incredible services for people who are at the end of their lives,” said Peter Primiani, president of Canda, which supervised the construction.

Other projects with a community focus, such as a cultural center and a childcare service, were considered before it was decided to transform the church into a palliative care center. A key argument was the lack of beds for palliative care on the island of Montreal, as well as the area’s aging population.

The committee dedicated to the transformation of the church was created in 2008, but St. Raphael’s didn’t make its debut as a palliative care center until 2019. Before construction could start, funds needed to be raised to pay for the property’s renovation. Construction costs added up to $6.45 million, which was funded entirely through donations.

The annual operations budget totals $4.4 million per year, of which the Ministry for Health and Social Services pays about $1.6 million. “Every year, we have to raise $2.9 million,” said Marie Michèle Del Balso, outgoing president of the board of directors at St. Raphael’s.

St. Raphael’s stays afloat due to donations large and small. Many activities are organized to collect funds, such as golf tournaments, auctions and shows. But while construction and operational costs might be high, rent is not. St. Raphael’s benefits from a 75-year emphyteutic lease — renewable every 25 years, at the cost of $1 per year — with the Archdiocese of Montreal, which owns the property.

While the building was historically a symbol for the Catholic community, everyone is now welcome at St. Raphael’s. “I find that the community vocation of St. Raphael’s is well-aligned with what the archbishop wanted to do. We really appreciated that they were open to welcome everyone, regardless of their origin or religion,” explained Del Balso.

Before starting construction, the team visited other palliative care centers in Quebec such as Maison Victor-Gadbois, a day center in Saint-Mathieu-de-Beloeil, to get feedback and inspiration. The committee originally designed the project, then created a campaign cabinet to raise funds to finance it. To add to the logistical challenges of this large-scale transformation, there were many governmental and minister changes during the planning period, and thus, many steps to redo.

The project’s complexity was further enhanced by the property’s heritage status. “At the zoning level, we kept the ‘place of worship’ use, and we added the use that we needed,” added Del Balso. “The process was long; making plans, zoning, raising funds … it took many years.”

When Peter Primiani started working on the project in 2018, construction had already begun. “The presbytery [the house of the priest] was already demolished, and it was completely stripped inside, but the construction wasn’t too advanced,” said Primiani.

The board of directors hired Primiani so that he could act as a representative of St. Raphael’s in relation to the contractor. “My role was to follow up on how the project was moving along, to participate on the construction site’s meetings, to look and review the proposed changes and to find solutions for problems arising during construction,” he said.

The stone and the roof were preserved, and the City of Montreal allowed the team to pierce the building to create additional light, which was missing in the original church.

Once the construction was completed, there were still details to adjust, and that work remains ongoing. “There are still components and systems that we are currently completing or correcting,” added Primiani.

St. Raphael’s houses the first palliative day center on the island of Montreal, hosting 12 to 15 patients daily. They can benefit from services including art therapy, music therapy, group therapy and acupuncture. “We make people forget that they are sick for a moment,” said Del Balso. “They meet people like them, and it gives them a better quality of life, even if they are at the end of it.”

The palliative care center also offers longer stays for patients who have less than three months to live, with 12 bedrooms available. “We think that the center will always be at full capacity, because there are many requests for rooms in palliative care; hospitals are overflowing,” added Del Balso.

St. Raphael’s utilizes a holistic approach and employs an experienced and multifaceted team, including doctors, nurses, social workers, acupuncturists, massage therapists and hairdressers, among others.

All services are offered for free, and patients can register on the St. Raphael’s website or through a hospital or a clinic. It’s hard to predict waiting lists in palliative care, according to Del Balso. “When someone needs palliative care, sometimes they have three days or three weeks to live, so by the time that the person can be admitted, they already passed away,” she explained. “There is a pressing need.”

St. Raphael’s also offers a much-needed break for caregivers. “It’s hard to accompany someone who is at the end of their life,” observed Del Balso. “Caregivers spend many hours every week focusing on their loved ones. Being able to leave someone at the center, so that they can enjoy a day off, can make a huge difference.”

The church’s second life is making everyone happy, from patients to professionals who worked on the project. “I find the reutilization of the building remarkable,” added Primiani. “It goes along with the way our society is evolving and the aging population. There are many empty churches, and I much prefer seeing them converted into palliative care centers like this, which has such a noble social mission.”