Advancing Dementia Care

We know the particular challenges that living with dementia can bring, as well as the many ways that quality of life can be maintained and even enhanced. Our staff are dedicated professionals who deliver individualized care in an environment where everyone is respected and treated with dignity.

Advancing Dementia Support

We understand the needs of those living with dementia, including caregivers, and how essential it is to be able to draw on support services. Our innovative day and respite programs are delivered by staff who believe strongly in preserving dignity and quality of life through person-centred care.

Advancing Innovation in Care

Our care and support services endeavour to minimize the physical and emotional effects of dementia on our residents, clients and their caregivers. In support of this goal, we engage in thoughtful and strategic research partnerships and collaborations that advance dementia care.

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The McCormick Care Group has a long and remarkable history of providing compassionate care to the community, including the establishment of McCormick Home, McCormick Dementia Services (formerly Alzheimer Outreach Services), McCormick Dementia Research, Parkwood Hospital and Wellspring London and Region. Our services are administered through three dedicated divisions – please click for more information:

Introducing the First McCormick Care Group Employee Values Award Recipient

The McCormick Dementia Services team has a strong history and an ongoing commitment to delivering the highest quality programs and services to clients in our day program, weekend overnight respite program and care partner support programs.

“We have no way of knowing exactly when in 1874, in whose home, as the result of how many gatherings, the Women’s Christian Association was born. We do know the founders went from one home to another on board sidewalks, across dusty roadways in their long trailing skirts. It was 1895 before sidewalks of flagstones or cement gradually replaced board walks…But meet members did, and the type of organization they envisioned came to fruition.”*

“The object of the Society is the distribution of charity, and the care of the poor, and the sick…” and the motto “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119: 105) lit their future course.

McCormick Home, as it is known today, was originally founded as two separate homes – the Home for Aged Men and the Home for Aged Women in 1887 and 1888, respectively. They combined the two enterprises as the Aged People’s Home in 1892, when the late Thomas J. McCormick built a large house on Richmond Street and donated it to the Women’s Christian Association for the care of the elderly. Shortly after, in 1894, the Association founded the Home for Incurables, now Parkwood Hospital, which ministered to the needs of the sick and, in 1980, expanded to include the specialized care of veterans.

In 1986, the Women’s Christian Association established Alzheimer Outreach Services (now McCormick Dementia Services) at Parkwood to help meet the growing need for Alzheimer’s care in our community. This program quickly grew to become the largest dementia day program in Ontario. It was eleven years later when the Association was directed to relinquish governance of Parkwood Hospital to St. Joseph’s Health Care of London. Two years later, in 1999, the Women’s Christian Association turned its attention to the needs of those impacted by cancer and founded Wellspring London and Region, which after 12 years, transitioned to an independent organization.

In 2006, both McCormick Home and McCormick Dementia Services were relocated to Kains Road in London. Ten years later, the Women’s Christian Association rebranded as the McCormick Care Group, and launched McCormick Dementia Research to focus on discovering and sharing new innovations in dementia care.

All McCormick organizations share the core values of compassion, accountability, respect, excellence and collaboration. The McCormick Care Group exemplifies these values by being committed to governing these organizations in their mission to deliver compassionate care services. Solidly rooted within the London community, the McCormick Care Group is accountable to the people it serves as well as to its government regulators, funders and other stakeholders to ensure it continues to provide quality care to our community members in need.

Many courageous pioneering women worked together to assist the most impoverished and forgotten in our society. The impact of their work resonates in our work today as we focus on improving the quality of life for those living with a dementia diagnosis. We are grateful for their passion and commitment and are honoured to be continuing the important mission they began.

*Excerpted from The History of the Women’s Christian Association, Margaret Johnson, c. 2000.