The Hospice of Windsor & Essex County Inc.The Hospice for Life Foundation

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“C elebrating 40 Years of Hospice”

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Dear Hospice Supporters

Colleen ReaumeExecutive Director, The Hospice

In the fall of 2018, I joined the Hospice family and I am so grateful for the support I have received from this community. Since this time, I have found myself in awe of the remarkable history of the last 40 years of Hospice. Founded to address compassionate end-of-life care, The Hospice of Windsor and Essex County Inc. has been an integral part of the Windsor-Essex region since 1979. This year marks the 40th anniversary of Hospice services in Windsor and Essex County.

Today, with the guidance of a strong and devoted Board of Directors, the Hospice provides care at no cost in our two Hospice Residential Homes (Windsor and Erie Shores/Leamington), through the Community Palliative Medicine Program and through our Wellness Programs and Services.

What stands out to me is the ownership culture that exists in Windsor and Essex County for “Our Hospice.” It is endearing and comforting to be a part of this Hospice movement, while also a privilege to observe our volunteers in action providing their time, talents and compassion at every interaction. Their passion is palpable and contagious. This amazing community supports “Our Hospice” through ongoing generous donations, invaluable volunteerism and grass roots support. With only partial government funding, it has been through the support of this community that Hospice has become the first palliative hospice village in North America and first satellite campus in Ontario.

The 2018/2019 year was extremely busy and productive with the physical expansion of our facilities. In Windsor, through many generous and loyal Hospice friends, we were able to move from an eight to ten bed Windsor Residential Home, allowing us to serve an additional 40 families each year. In Erie Shores, a major construction project was completed - a new Hospice Welcome Centre - to enable valuable supportive programs for patients, families, and caregivers ensuring “care close to home.”

Thank you to Don and Kathy Mastronardi for supporting the entire Erie Shores Welcome Centre Project. We look forward to providing essential supportive services in honour of your parents for years to come. Sincere thanks are also extended to Al Quesnel for gifting Hospice with a million-dollar-safety-net in this year of extensive growth and expansion; we are truly indebted to you.

This was also a year of reflection and change. We have taken time to look back in celebration of where we started, where we are and where we want to go. On behalf of the entire agency, I would like to offer my heartfelt gratitude to all of the community partners, donors, and volunteers who championed The Hospice’s mission this year.

Healthcare is shifting in the province, but it is Hospice Palliative Care that is one of the best stories in Ontario health, social, and community care. I am looking forward to working with our team and partners to create a solid foundation for palliative care that will sustain and grow with our community for the next 40 years.

Colleen ReaumeExecutive Director

“ Life Can Only Be

Understood Backwards; But

It Must Be Lived Forwards.”

- Soren Kierkegaard

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This has being another exciting year for Hospice – We are expanding and growing again. As we renovated the Windsor Residential Home it was business as usual for our many patients, families, volunteers and staff. We are most grateful to our partners at the LHIN and the Ministry for their vision on this project and, indeed, for all of our community partners and donors who have helped us make this $1 million capital project happen.

This past year, with the construction of our Erie Shores Welcome Centre, we have initiated a planning process to augment our wellness centre programs and services in the county. We are grateful for the generous donation that has made this dream a reality. As well, our partnership with the Erie Shores Health Foundation has enabled us to develop new services that will allow families to remain together, bringing care closer to home. This wonderful new space will also provide further opportunities for volunteer training. Stay tuned for the new programs to be offered in the upcoming fiscal year.

The Hospice remains committed to ongoing quality improvement in our programs and services. Our commitment to accreditation is just one example of ensuring that our services and governance structure meet best practice standards. This past year, we completed accreditation with Hospice Palliative Care Ontario.

As we enter a new fiscal year, on behalf of the Board I would like to thank departing Board Member Steve Truant. You and your family’s dedication and commitment to Hospice will be recognized well into the future. With the facility enhancement to our April’s Garden Conservatory, the space will become much more welcoming and accessible. Your expertise, energy and enthusiasm have been a welcome addition to our Board and we wish you all the best in the future.

At Hospice we continue to be steadfast in our dedication to providing holistic wellness and palliative care to serve the needs of patients, families and caregivers when they need it most. We have served our community for 40 years, and I hope you will join me in championing the role of palliative care in our health care system for the next 40 years to come.

It has truly been an honour to serve as your Board Chair and I look forward to supporting Hospice in the coming year.

Board of Directors2018/ 2019

Jane Wiens Chair

Frank Chalmers Vice Chair

John Blanken Treasurer

Members at Large:

Dr. Hakam Abu-Zahra

Dorothy Davis

Greg Dufour

Richard Gates

Scott Lockwood

Veronique Mandal

Joan McSweeney

John Martel

Mark Nazarewich

Stephen Truant

Mary Beth Valentine

Julka Vlajik

Joyce Zhu

Jane WiensChair, Board of Directors, The Hospice

Jane WiensChair, Board of Directors

Dear Friends of Hospice

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Governance ReportThe role of the Governance Committee is to ensure that effective practices are in place in order for the Board of Directors to fulfill its responsibilities.

This past year, the committee oversaw the process of selecting an Executive Director to replace Carol Derbyshire, who had been with Hospice for thirty-nine years. In addition, Board Members assisted in the extensive recruitment process of three new Directors through reviewing recommendations.

In recognition of the need for continuing education, the Governance Committee organized education for Board Members related to the effective functioning and governance of not-for-profit boards. A review of our by-laws and policies was undertaken in order to ensure that they align with accreditation and best practices.

The above activities, in addition to monitoring best practice standards, will guide the committee in preparation for accreditation with the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitative Services as well as accreditation with Hospice Palliative Care Ontario for Visiting Hospice.

945 Active Volunteers

92,244 Volunteer Hours (Windsor and Erie Shores)

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Volunteers are the Heart of Hospice

As with previous years, volunteers are integral to providing programs and services at the Hospice.

From assisting with administration, fundraising, maintenance, property management, and on committees and boards, to volunteering their time caring for patients in the Hospice Residential Home and the community, volunteers are the life-blood of Hospice. Last year they provided over 92,000 hours of support to Hospice.

Currently, we have more than 900 active volunteers between the Windsor and Erie Shores Campuses, who amaze us with their selflessness, generosity of spirit, kindness, and compassion each and every day.

On behalf of the entire agency, we would like to offer our sincere gratitude to all of the volunteers who have been supporting Hospice for 40 years to ensure our programs and services are offered to our patients and families at no cost.

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Expansion News!

The Hospice is extremely grateful to our generous donors for their support during the year. The Audit and Finance Committee is pleased to report that the 2018/19 fiscal year achieved a balanced budget with the generous support of our partners, donors, and the foundation.

The Board, Audit and Finance Committee, Hospice team and many of our supporters are thankful to everyone who made this year of expansion possible.

This past year marked a milestone for our staff as we celebrated the retirement of Executive Director, Carol Derbyshire and welcomed her successor, Colleen Reaume. For the community, we completed the addition of two patient suites, family gathering spaces, and lanais to our existing eight patient residential home in Windsor. We also celebrated the Grand Opening of our Welcome Centre at our Erie Shores location.

We are extremely grateful for the support from our annual signature events which includes Hockey for Hospice Tournament, LifeWalk, Benefit Gala, and Savour the Wine.

During the year, we also received a very generous donation from the Al Quesnel Foundation and Tim Horton’s Smile Cookie Campaign. Without this, and ongoing support from our donors, we could not continue to provide outstanding care to our many patients and families.

We rely on community donations in order to provide our programs and services and are grateful to everyone who has contributed to the Hospice.

Please visit www.thehospice.ca to download a copy of our Annual Audited Financial Statements.

Audit and Finance Report

“It is not how much we give, but how much we put into giving.” - Mother Teresa

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The Quality Committee begins each meeting with a patient story. These stories provide a framework that highlights the importance of quality and the impact our services have on our patients, families, and caregivers. This past year, the Quality Committee spent time to review in detail the indicators collected on their dashboard, with the intent of reducing the number to allow for a more meaningful review and discussion. A new dashboard was also developed for the Board that integrates the Hospice Strategic Directions, as well as the elements for quality as identified by Health Quality Ontario.

The focus now is to truly assess quality in operations impacting our patients, clients, staff, and volunteers. In addition, a key focus for the Quality Committee is a review of the Risk Management Trend Report to ensure the effective monitoring of agency goals and targets. This has also led to an increased number of indicators being monitored on the Quality Committee’s Dashboard.

This past year, Hospice staff prepared and interviewed for Accreditation for Visiting Hospice services with Hospice Palliative Care Ontario. We are now awaiting the results. Next year, we will again build on these results as we prepare for accreditation with the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitative Services (CARF).

Moving forward, the Committee will continue to monitor quality processes with a focus to continuously improve services to patients and families; and support the health and well-being of our staff and volunteers.

“Quality is the result of a carefully constructed

cultural environment. It has to be the fabric of the

organization, not part of the fabric.” - Philip

Crosby

Quality Committee Report

Forty years and growing, Hospice has come to another successful completion in the expansion plans for its facilities, used to serve our patients and families. Hospice has always been supported by the generous donations of the community, with this year having been no exception. Two of the seven projects reached the finished stage this year, with four more to be completed within the next month, and leaving one remaining project spanning the next six months. At this time, we wish to highlight the two projects successfully completed this year.

The first project was the addition to and renovation of the Windsor Hospice Residential Home, bringing it from an eight bed to a ten bed patient facility. This project was made possible by both private donors and by the Ministry of Health and Long Term care.

Building Committee Report

The project includes:

• Two NEW patient suites• Two NEW family support rooms

• Renovated and upgraded areas in the kitchen, dining areas and a sunroom, and upgrades to the building structure including a new room and flooring throughout the entire home.

On March 26, 2019, Hospice welcomed our patients and families back home to our main site. Hospice wishes to particularly thank our community partner, Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare (HDGH), for their gracious assistance. When construction required that the residential home be closed, HDGH worked with us by providing Hospice with interim space for our residential home to operate, ultimately ensuring there was no downtime providing services to our patients and families.

The second project was one undertaken in conjunction with a private donor and the Erie Shores Healthcare Foundation. This partnership allowed for the replacement of the patio doors in the ten patient rooms of the Erie Shores Hospice Residential Home. As a result, the staff and volunteers are able to provide patients and families with easier access to the outside patios attached to each patient room.

One of the most exciting aspects of the construction overall has been the introduction of two significant partners within the construction process: that of the Erie Shores Healthcare Foundation and the first-time capital contribution by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care. The presence of these two important funders has made these projects possible – thank you to all!

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Foundation Report

It is my great pleasure to once again welcome all of you to our Annual General Meeting – an opportunity to reflect and celebrate the transformational moments we’ve experienced over the past year and to acknowledge the incredible successes of our talented team of staff, physicians, and volunteers.

Each year, I look forward to the Foundation’s Annual General Meeting with excitement, as it gives me an opportunity to proudly share the accomplishments of our team. It is hard to believe that two years have passed so quickly since I joined in the role of Chair of the Foundation Board. Today, I am very excited to share the successes we’ve made as an organization, and where we are headed in the days, months, and years ahead.

Dr. Mary Broga Chair

John Blanken Treasurer

Dan Amicone Past Chair

Members at Large:

Tim Beaulieu

Jane Boyd

Marilyn (Duffy) Davidson

Garnet Fenn

Kathryn A. Hengl

Tim A. Jones

Kevin Marshall

Dr. Donald J. Rudzinski

The Hospice for Life Foundation Board of Directors

2018/ 2019

Dr. Mary BrogaChair, Board of DirectorsThe Hospice for Life Foundation

To date, our current Board of Directors have been excellent stewards of the Foundation’s establishment and management of current endowments. As of March 31, 2019 the Foundation holds $4.2 million in assets.

This past year, the Board took the opportunity to review our by-laws and committees. We have streamlined our governance processes to effectively meet our mandate and support Hospice operations.

Established through the vision and generosity of the Toldo and O’Neil families in 2011, the Foundation is committed to cultivating a model of community engagement and philanthropy.

The goal is to support the Hospice’s commitment to provide the highest quality of care through programs and services, patient empowerment and education. The Foundation also assists in facilitating research and capital building projects.

8,258Wellness Program visits

291Residential Home admissions

5,561social work visits

33,000pots of coffee a year were provided to patients, their families, volunteers and staff.

Thank you to Tim Horton’s, Vince and Dianne Cardella, for being extremely generous to our Hospice.

Tim Horton’s Smile Cookie Campaign helped us support over 2,100 patients and families.

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The Hospice for Life Foundation Board of Directors

2018/ 2019

Y.L.

Wine

Over 800 guests enjoyed our Shanghai themed evening which included traditional Chinese dancers, delicious seafood feast, and wonderful live music. Savour the Sea brought in approximately $65,000 thanks to our generous donors, sponsors, and Hospice supporters.

See you on March 28, 2020 for our 36th Savour the Sea Gala!

LifeWalk attracted over 200participants in a family-friendly walk around Ciociaro Club’s scenic route. Participants collected pledges and wore T-shirts in memory of a loved one who have fought or are still fighting a life-altering diagnosis.

LifeWalk brought in approximately $30,000. That is no walk in the park!

In support of the Fairly Family Transportation Program, last year Hospice’s Face to Face Campaign brought in approximately $127,000. This ensures much needed rides available to the patients and families who use our services.

Face to Face Campaign will continue from August 15th to September 30th.

Over 700 participants explored the bounty of Windsor and Essex County. Local wineries helped us raise approximately $46,000 in 2018.

Thank you to our dedicated committee on another successful year!

See you on September 15, 2019!

Our signature funraising event had its 39th Gala last year. An Evening in the Tropics welcomed an attendance of 1000 guests. The Hospice Gala brought in approximately $193,000.

We look forward to seeing you on the October 26, 2019 when the Hospice Gala turns 40!

The 23rd Hockey for Hospice welcomed approximately 150 teams in a competitive atmosphere for all different levels of competition for boys and girls. The 2018 tournament raised $347,121. What a score!

Here’s to another year of Hockey for Hospice! See you December 27-29, 2019!

Hospice Events

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