Respect

2013 - 2014Annual Report

Hospice Simcoe turned 25 this year - and what a year it has been!

One thing that defined the year was change. Good change and chal-

lenging change. A sign of coming of age and perhaps a direction that

was prophesized by the dynamic speaker we heard at our last AGM.

Sharon Carstairs kicked off our year with a fabulous presentation.

She commended the hospice movement in general and Hospice Simcoe

in particular for our work and dedication to Palliative Care. At the same

time she spoke of a need to do more, for more people. She reminded

us that without change we cannot hope to support the needs of our

aging population.

This year we were very pleased to launch new programs in the com-

munity that will assist with end of life preparation. Our volunteers

have spoken to 348 people about Advance Care Planning; they have

reached 116 people with our Care through the Journey day program

and have made 49 presentations about end of life preparation reaching

another 1178 people. We have continued to offer the same high quality

community volunteer program that launched the Hospice movement

25 years ago. Our well trained volunteers supported 657 individuals

over the year. And we continue to offer a variety of individual and group

bereavement supports that have helped people in Barrie and area for

over 25 years. This year our group and individual bereavement programs

were available to 430 people.

Our residential program continues to be a leader, both in Barrie and

across the province. We are very fortunate to have a Registered Nurse

trained to do eye inoculations, making us the first hospice able to

offer transplants. Our excellent team of nurses, PSW’s and volunteers

work as a team to ensure that families are supported and patient needs

are met. This year, Hospice Simcoe supported 225 patients in our

residential program.

Hospice Simcoe report from Executive Director and Board President

Annual Report 2013 - 2014

We know that a year of change was both necessary and challenging.

We refocused our energies and bid farewell to some people who helped

us to get where we are today. We hope that we appropriately celebrated

our history and launched our future. The Board of Directors at Hospice

Simcoe is keenly aware of the unique challenges facing our aging

population and is committed to being part of the solution.

The staff, volunteers and Board of Directors of Hospice Simcoe are looking

forward to working with our community partners to ensure that all

residents of Barrie and Simcoe County have the opportunity to die well.

Respectfully submitted

Sandra Dunham, Executive Director

Bruce Bound, Board President

Annual Report 2013 - 2014

The nursing team is honoured to continue to celebrate many heartfelt moments on a regular basis

and provide comfort to those in our care. This year, our Residential Program was privileged

to provide high quality palliative care to 225 residents and their families. Since we opened in

December of 2009 we have cared for more than 1000 residents. The average length of stay

remains the same as last year at nine days; ranging from a few short hours to a few months.

We continue to receive excellent support from Community Care Access Center, North Simcoe

Muskoka Hospice Palliative Care Network, physicians and volunteers.

The nursing team is continually striving to improve care and implement best practices. They are

actively involved in our Professional Practice Council, Occupational Health & Safety Committee,

regular staff meetings and fundraising events. Numerous nursing staff have completed the

Fundamentals of Palliative Care course, the Comprehensive Advanced Palliative Care Education

(CAPCE) certification program and obtained the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Nurse

(CHPCN) designation. Congratulations to all!

I am incredibly proud to announce that we have received impressive feedback from our Client

Satisfaction Survey’s with 100% (93% last year) being satisfied with the service their loved

one received. Although we recognize that this is a great result, we will address known issues

and always strive to improve.

Hospice Simcoe Residential Program

“The experience of having my Dad at Hospice has changed mywhole outlook on death. Previously being something scary, but

now I see this as the natural process.”- ???????????????????

“Mother's final dayswere in a beautifulpeaceful place. Everything was perfect”

We were touched by some of the comments noted, for example: “Mother's final days were in a

beautiful peaceful place. Everything was perfect”, “Honestly, our 10 days were the best we

could have hoped for”, and “The overall experience at Hospice Simcoe (5 days) was outstanding!”

There have been a few staffing changes in the nursing team this past year. I am incredibly

excited to be back at Hospice Simcoe on a full time basis. We welcome Tammy Pollard as the

Residential Care Coordinator. We want to thank Dr. Margaret Collins for her support as Medical

Director over the past few years and wish her well in her future endeavours. We are currently

recruiting for a Medical Director, stay tuned!

We are pleased to announce that two of our nurses have received training and performed many

eye inoculations. This is a surgical procedure that is performed after death in which the eyes are

extracted, stored and transported to the Eye Bank of Canada (in Toronto). Corneas are distributed

to numerous surgeons in our province for sight-restoring transplants. More than one thousand

individuals each year regain their vision from corneal transplants made possible by eye donations.

In addition, donated sclera can be indispensable in sight saving surgeries for glaucoma as well as

for reconstructive surgeries. In Ontario last year, over 1200 individuals had their sight restored

by corneal transplants made possible by eye donations. We thank our donor families; from the

darkness of sorrow and pain, their courage and compassion shines through to make a difference

in someone else's life. We are grateful that our clinical team has taken the initiative to offer

this valuable “gift of donation and of sight” service.

The nursing team is very committed to providing an excellent learning environment for PSW,

RPN and RN students. We have ongoing partnerships with Georgian College, Everest College,

York University and Lakehead University. Thank you to the entire nursing team that provides

mentorship to our PSWs and nurses of the future. You are all great role models!

Kelly Hubbard RN BScN CHPCN (C)

Residential Care Manager

“…whatever we can doto help just let us know!This is our charity ofchoice. Mom is smiling!”

Annual Report 2013 - 2014

We’ve journeyed with many families who have experienced significant change in their lives

through the loss of a loved one and their kind words remind us of the true reason for sharing

your volunteer time at Hospice Simcoe.

Our work at Hospice often reminds us of the synchronicity of life, the merging of events that

are meaningfully connected. This is the nature of our work and our ties with all who are part

of it. Everyday many of the over 160 Volunteers make the difference in the lives of those that

we touch through the smallest acts of kindness. Over 16,000 hours shared:

Hospice Simcoe Volunteer and Community Programs

“Thanks to each of you who helped provide such a warm, dignified, respectful and caring environment for my Mom during her final days.”

- Hospice family member

• Grocery shopping• Gardening-decorating• Committees• Fundraising• Music• Hairstyling • Supporting families to

stay in their own homes• Administration

• Residential Client care• Greeting visitors

at reception• Making our house a home

in the family kitchen• Creating awareness in

the community• Hospice/palliative

care education

• Grief and bereavementgroups

• Walking groups-memorialservices

• Quiet cups of tea and conversation

• Leadership• Board of directors• Complementary therapy

As well as many more threads that volunteers weave into this work. Chief Seattle summed

up your work in this quote, “Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread

within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things connected.”

Katherine Stewart

Volunteer & Community Programs Manager

The launch of our new Community Outreach Programs has greatly enhanced the awareness ofhospice palliative care services across various demographics in the region. A key priority of ourcommunity programs has been to reach families earlier in the illness trajectory and provide education and resources at the onset of a diagnosis.

In 10-months, our Community Outreach Programs have reached over 1500 community membersof all ages and professions. A total of 73 workshops and 10 information booths have been conducted;over 275-hours of volunteer service has been contributed to the Community Programs. 7 differentworkshop topics have been developed and led by passionate volunteers to provide education tothe community about Hospice Palliative Care including Complementary Therapies, CaregiverWellness Strategies, The ‘Bucket List’, Speaker’s Bureau and Advance Care Planning.

Community partnerships have been established to help us deliver our new Care Through theJourney wellness day program for individuals recently diagnosed with a life-limiting illness. Wehave delivered our wellness day program in partnership with the RVH Dialysis Centre, the Townof Innisfil, Barrie Community Health Centre, and the Parkinson’s Society of Simcoe County.

We are grateful for the continued support from our volunteers to help us grow this new program andwe look forward to continued expansion into the community to ensure no family is left behind.

Megan Kirk, MA, CYA-RYT Community Programs Coordinator

Hospice Simcoe provides a Visiting Hospice Program to people with a life-limiting illness, and theirfamilies. Our well-trained volunteers add to the support provided by the individual’s care circle andcan provide non-medical emotional, social, and practical support in the comfort of their own homes.

We know that when people accept support early in their illness trajectory, they may experiencebetter quality of life and management of symptoms. Therefore, the Visiting Hospice volunteers areavailable from the time of a palliative diagnosis, and can be utilized for as long as the client needs.(con’t)

“We love our time atHospice. We alwaysfeel so appreciated bystaff, family members& residents”

Community Programs Update

Visiting Hospice Program

Annual Report 2013 - 2014

There was a total of 844.5 hours of service provided to families by our in home volunteers overthe last year. For over 25 years the Community Home Visiting Program has been the “roots”of this agency and will continue to be a large part of the services we provide.

With the imminent implementation of the “Keep me Home” program, combined with the ongoing commitment from the Visiting Volunteers, we look forward to ongoing growth withinthe community program. The “Keep me Home” program will allow for individuals to co-ordinatean informal caregiving team that meets the unique needs of each family. This new program willbe volunteer led, and will assist in keeping individuals in home as long as possible.

Teneal Childs, MSW Community Care & Volunteer Coordinator

The Bereavement Program provides emotional and spiritual support to those seeking help tocope with loss and grief, including limited one-to-one support that provides validation and reassurance in the grief experience or referral for more in depth support. We serve those whoseloved ones died at Hospice, and also many from the community with no previous relationshipto Hospice, including work places and agencies experiencing loss and grief. The role extends tothe support of staff and volunteers, with a monthly Client Care Volunteer Support Meeting,which began in January.

This fall our bereavement programs resumed. The Bereavement Walking Group is welcomingan increasingly diverse range of clients who are at different points in their grief journey. Thisyear we began a drop-in Coffee Talk group, which offers a smaller more intimate option for groupsupport. We have increased our number of Memorial Services to four times per year, as thestrong response confirms the need for this opportunity to return, remember and celebrate thememory of loved ones through creative ritual and reflective ceremony.

Our volunteer Bereavement Team represents strong professional skills and life experience thatallow us to create safe and supportive circles for our clients. We are currently strengthening ourteam relationships through team meetings and mentoring. We are grateful for the rich gifts andgenerous time offered.

Sheila Atkinson, MDiv, Certified Spiritual Care Specialist (CASC)

Bereavement Coordinator

Bereavement Program

“We are so grateful a bed was available at Hospice for Dad to goto. It was a much bettersituation for our dad aswell as family.”

Our community was very generous to Hospice Simcoe this past year. Whether large or small,

collectively our community’s financial support enables us to deliver programs and services to

all our clients, residents and their families.

We are midway through our Three Year Fund Development Plan and it is serving us well in several

areas, including donor stewardship. Our fabulous team of telephone volunteers called every single

donor, that we had a telephone number for, to say thank you. We have also recognized our donors

and those they were remembering with new plaques in the residence. A donor plaque lists the

name of every single donor that made a donation in 2013 – what an amazing sight to see so many

names all together. In the future, this list will change every six months. A second plaque lists

the names of everyone whom a gift has been made in memory of in the previous calendar year.

Our third and final plaque was installed to kick off our 25th anniversary celebrations last June.

This permanent plaque lists the major donors from our capital campaign to build our residence.

Our three Hospice Simcoe signature events, our black tie gala, fashion show and Hike for Hospice,

all had record breaking net revenues this past year. Our sincerest thanks to the volunteers that

spent enormous amounts of time planning and organizing these events. Of course, they would not

be as successful without corporate sponsors and all the people who bought tickets or participated.

We are grateful for the numerous gifts we receive in memory of a loved one, for our monthly

donors and those who contribute with a general donation through our fall annual appeal. Finally,

rounding off our fundraising efforts is the wonderful community support we receive through Third

Party Events. These are fundraisers held on behalf of Hospice Simcoe but organized and run

independently. We are grateful to the many businesses, service clubs, organizations and families

that donate the proceeds of these events to us.

Hospice Simcoe Fund Development Report

Annual Report 2013 - 2014

• 25 years of operation and 4rd year with our beautiful residential hospice.

• New donor recognition plaques went up in the residence.

• 225 residents and their families received high quality palliative in the residence

• Since we opened in December of 2009 we have cared for more than 1000 residents.

• Three staff members’ abstracts were approved for presentation at HPCO

• Over 16,000 volunteers hours donated

• There was a total of 844.5 hours of service provided to families by our in

home volunteers over the last year.

• Community outreach programs reached over 1500 members

• Val Gardner - June Callwood Award: Circle of Outstanding Volunteers - HPCO

• 3 signature annual fundraising events – Hospice from the Heart Gala,

Fall Fashion Show and Hike for Hospice were huge successes

Platinum Sponsor:

Gold Sponsors:

SilverSponsors:

Gala2014

Past events have included golf, hockey, curling and ice fishing tournaments, garage sales,

concerts, auctions and proceeds from the sale of merchandise. This past year a few local

businesses donated the money they would normally have spent on Christmas gifts for their

clients or staff to us. A number of milestone celebrations, including a couple celebrating their

50th anniversary, requested donations in their honour to Hospice Simcoe in lieu of gifts.

Big or small, every single donation makes a difference. Every single dollar raised or given to Hospice

Simcoe stays in our community and allows us to continue to build a stronger community for all.

We are thankful for those who make Hospice Simcoe their charity of choice and for giving locally.

Lynda Murtha, Fund Development Manager

Hospice Simcoe 2013 - 2014 Highlights

Bruce Bound, PresidentAlfred Dick, Vice ChairSheila Smith, Treasurer*Dan Leonard, TreasurerKaren Hill, Secretary

Heather Klein-GebbinckChris NicholsCindi Harmer*Amber SperlingTim Johnston

Hospice Simcoe Board of Directors 2013/2014

Sandra Dunham, Executive DirectorKelly Hubbard RN BScN CHPCN (C), Residential Care ManagerShelley Debison, Acting Residential Care Manager*Lynda Murtha, Fund Development ManagerChristine Ralhan, Business ManagerKatherine Stewart, Volunteer & Community Programs ManagerKathi Kelly, Bereavement Coordinator *Sheila Atkinson, Bereavement Coordinator*Tammy Pollard RN, Residential Care CoordinatorLeanne Bentley, Marketing & Development Coordinator*Andrea Boddy, Volunteer Coordinator*Tonya Claughton, Business ManagerDeb Gillard, Community Care Coordinator*Megan Kirk, Community Programs CoordinatorDoris Davis, Administrative Assistant

* Resigned during the year

Hospice Simcoe Office Staff

Tel: 705 722-5995 Fax: 705 722-0716www.hospicesimcoe.ca

336 Penetanguishene Road, R.R. #1 Barrie, ON L4M 7C2Registered Charity #134433234 RR0001