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Hospice Huntsville

Hospice Huntsville provides quality end of life care for members of our community who are dying with a terminal illness. Hospice Huntsville has many programs that have provided palliative care support to our community for since 1989. Our visiting volunteer program provides bedside support in our clients homes, nursing home or at hospital to allow family and caregiver respite. 

Our grief and bereavement program supports caregivers after their loved one has died. 

Algonquin Grace is our beautiful 5 bed residential hospice that provides 24 hour professional nursing and personal support work. 

  • Professionally trained Visiting Volunteers and Grief and Bereavement Facilitators provide our clients with compassionate care and support 
  • Staff of Registered Nurses and Personal Support Workers providing care to our Algonquin Grace Hospice residents – 7 days per week, 24 hours per day 
  • Board Members who guide and support the operations of Hospice Huntsville 
  • Numerous non-visiting, non-board member volunteers who raise awareness in the community, fundraise and sit on various committees

For current employment opportunities, click here

We serve the communities of Huntsville, Lake of Bays, Baysville, Dorset, Dwight, Novar, Port Sydney, Burk’s Falls and Sundridge.

We provide care and support to individuals in the Huntsville area who are facing end of life situations. This care and support is also extended to their families and caregivers and is provided in the setting of their choice at no cost.

  • Adult Grief Support Programs to our community held twice a year 
  • Children’s  Support Program –  6 week program available to children. Age Group: elementary school aged children  
  • Teen Support Program 
  • Professional training programs for new Visiting Volunteers 
  • Organize, develop strategies and initiatives to promote the growth of the Hospice movement within our community 

Latest Hospice News

Hospice Huntsville Receives Increased Government Funding

On Wednesday, MPP Graydon Smith, local dignitaries Hospice Huntsville staff and volunteers learned about the increase in provincial government funding.  Rebecca Ellerson, Hospice Huntsville Executive Director announced the capitol expansion project for Hospice Huntsville that will become a reality because of the increase in funding.  

On June 12th at the Hospice Palliative Care Ontario (HPCO) 2023 conference, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, the Honourable Sylvia Jones announced $147.4 million over 3 years to support hospice palliative care services across the province. 

“The provincial government is making unprecedented investments into local health care services in our community,” said MPP Graydon Smith. “Today’s announcement of a 65% increase in funding for Hospice Huntsville is a reflection of our government’s commitment to the people of Parry Sound-Muskoka. End of life care remains a top priority for me as the MPP for this riding and I’ll continue to strongly advocate on behalf of our community hospices.”

Hospice Huntsville operates a beautiful 5 bed hospice residence, Algonquin Grace that provides 24-hour professional nursing, personal support work patient-centred palliative care to those in their last weeks of life.  The organization also provides grief and bereavement support to members of our community and visiting volunteer services.

This funding includes two streams that impact Hospice Huntsville services:

  • Grief and bereavement supports that help families and caregivers who are grieving the loss of a loved one, through a $10 million investment.
  • An increase in the operational funding for hospice residences totaling over $65 million over two years (2023-2024, 2024-2025).

This increase in funding represents a 65% increase funds received from government to support the 5 beds at Algonquin Grace.  The hospice residence funding formula has not been updated since 2016 and this commitment from the Minister of Health shows the organization that the government recognizes the quality and cost-effective service Hospice Huntsville provides, and the incredible challenges Hospices have faced in fundraising through the pandemic.  Hospice Huntsville receives funding from Ontario Health that covers approximately 50% of our clinical care costs each year.  To ensure the hospice has enough funds to continue to operate their programing at current levels, least $1,800 in donations and fundraising needs to be raised each day.  This has been increasingly challenging throughout the pandemic.

“More predictable funding for our hospice residence allows us to turn our attention to areas of growth and opportunity.  We are grateful for HPCO for their continued advocacy on behalf of Hospices across the province!  In my work with our board of directors, we have identified our Grief /Bereavement and Visiting Volunteer programs as real opportunities to help support high quality end of life care in the community.  Enrollment in these groups and services has notably increased throughout the pandemic.  In order to expand to support these developing programs, we need to have dedicated, specialized space to operate.  To this end, we are planning to launch a capital expansion project to create a 3500 square foot extension on the back of our existing building.  It will have a separate entrance and parking lot area.  We are focused on pre-construction work this year with plan to have this space operational by 2026” said Rebecca Ellerson, Hospice Huntsville Executive Director.

All funds raised at this years’ Sandhill Fall Festival will be directed towards the capital expansion project.  Hospice Huntsville extends their sincere gratitude to owners Tim and Melissa Cantelon and the entire Sandhill staff for their incredible support.

Land Acknowledgment

We respectfully acknowledge that Algonquin Grace Hospice in Huntsville is located on the traditional territories of the Anishinaabeg, specifically the Chippewa, Ojibwa, Odawa and Potawatomi peoples. Our Hospice residence is positioned overlooking Fairy Lake, originally named Mushk Amik Ta Shik. We are grateful that the waters of Mushk Amik Ta Shik have come under the caring stewardship of Anishinaabe women for long centuries in the past and up to the present time.

We are privileged to provide care on this land and extend our gratitude to Indigenous peoples for their generations of care and stewardship as well as their ongoing contributions to Canadian society and local initiatives.

This acknowledgment is one action toward reconciliation. It is a frequent reminder of our organizational commitment to ongoing learning and unlearning. We will continue to strive to create a safe space for all people to receive care. May our discussions and decisions be guided by this acknowledgment.

Reviewed and Approved by the Board of Directors: March 2023

Hospice Huntsville Statement on Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism

Racism, discrimination, exclusion, and intolerance have no place in Canadian society, and especially not in our services or in health care. Hospice Huntsville condemns them in all their forms. We respect and value all people and communities that we serve.

Hospice palliative care is rooted in the belief that every individual has intrinsic value and the right to quality of life and quality of care. Hospice Huntsville acknowledges the discrimination faced by Indigenous Peoples, marginalized communities and racialized communities; their rights infringed and denied for generations. We also acknowledge entrenched power differentials in Canadian society based on gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, age, ability, culture, ethnicity, citizenship, health, economic status, and other factors. These imbalances have resulted in both conscious and unconscious discriminatory practices and barriers within all aspects of life in Canada.

Hospice Huntsville is committed to understanding and addressing the causes and effects of racism and discrimination both in programs, our healthcare system and in our society. We want to know how they have impacted our practices and relationships with our patients and their families, our staff and volunteers, and our community at large. We commit to ongoing education for our staff and volunteer teams to ensure we are learning from diverse perspectives. Hospice Huntsville strives to provide safe care for all people and believes that ongoing learning and unlearning will be essential to this process.

Reviewed and Approved by the Board of Directors: May 2023

References:

Hospice Palliative Care Ontario – HPCO Statement and Actions on Anti-Racism, https://www.hpco.ca/hpco-statement-and-actions-on-anti-racism/ 

For comments, please contact Rebecca Ellerson, Hospice Huntsville Executive Director

Our Mission, Vision and Values

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Our Mission

To guide and provide consistent, comprehensive and compassionate
end of life care that is readily accessible to individuals, families and caregivers in the setting of their choice throughout the greater Huntsville area.

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Our Vision

Everyone is entitled to live
and die with dignity and comfort
surrounded by loved ones,
and assisted by compassionate
and caring persons
of their choice.

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Our Values

From its inception, Hospice
Huntsville has endeavored to take leadership in the community around matters pertaining to death and dying. Everything we do is high quality, person-centered and imbued with compassion.

If you have any questions, would like to book a hospice tour or would like to learn more about Hospice Huntsville, please contact our office at (705) 789-6878 or email info@hospicehuntsville.com

Strategic Plan 2021-2024

The Board of Directors has reimagined these five pillars to support all the work of the organization for the coming three year term. Hospice Huntsville strives to provide leadership in the provision of palliative and end-of-life care.

Financial Wellness

Give a Simple Way to Donate
Give Options for Donating
Give Results
Give Thanks
Give Financial Oversight

Communication

Connect our Team
Connect with our Community
Connect our Families
Connect Virtually

Programs & Services

We Lead
We Partner
We Respond
We Include

Team Culture

High Quality People
High Quality Performance
High Quality Work Environment

Strategic Plan
2021-2024

The Board of Directors has reimagined these five pillars to support all the work of the organization for the coming three year term. Hospice Huntsville strives to provide leadership in the provision of palliative and end-of-life care.

Financial Wellness

Give a Simple Way to Donate
Give Options for Donating
Give Results
Give Thanks
Give Financial Oversight

Communication

Connect our Team
Connect with our Community
Connect our Families
Connect Virtually

Programs & Services

We Lead
We Partner
We Respond
We Include

Team Culture

High Quality People
High Quality Performance
High Quality Work Environment

Integration

Integrated in our Community
Integrated in our Health Care System
Integrated in our Geography

Financials

Our audited financial statements and report is below:


Audited Financial Statements

for the year ending March 31, 2021

Board of Directors

Hospice Huntsville has a governance Board of Directors comprised of 11 individuals and
a staff member drawn from a range of expertise and skills. 

Members of the Board of Directors are elected annually by the membership of Hospice
Huntsville at the September Annual General Meeting.

Gordon Schakelaar

President

Lynn Sharer

Vice President

Russ Buckerfield

Secretary

Margaret Maw

Treasurer

Bill Allen

Director

Claire Doughty

Director

Dr. Ian Hastie

Director

Warren Jestin

Director

Tracey Mellersh

Director

Janine van den Heuvel

Director

Gayle Mackay

Director

Rebecca Ellerson

Executive Director

Hospice Huntsville Staff

Administration Team

Executive Director

Ext. 222

Fund Development & Public Relations Coordinator

Ext. 227

Administrative Assistant

Ext. 223

Program Coordinator (Grief & Bereavement Support, Visiting Volunteer Coordinator)

Ext. 200

Events Coordinator

Ext. 236

Clinical Care Team 

Clinical Program Manager

Ext. 238

Integration

Integrated in our Community
Integrated in our Health Care System
Integrated in our Geography

Financials

Our audited financial statements and report is below:

Audited Financial Statements

for the year ending March 31, 2023

Board of Directors

Hospice Huntsville has a governance Board of Directors comprised of 11 individuals and
a staff member drawn from a range of expertise and skills. 

Members of the Board of Directors are elected annually by the membership of Hospice
Huntsville at the September Annual General Meeting.

Gordon Schakelaar

President

Lynn Sharer

Vice President

Russ Buckerfield

Secretary

Margaret Maw

Treasurer

Bill Allen

Director

Claire Doughty

Director

Dr. Ian Hastie

Director

Warren Jestin

Director

Janine van den Heuvel

Director

Gayle Mackay

Director

Rebecca Ellerson

Executive Director

Hospice Huntsville Staff

Administration Team

Executive Director

Fund Development & Public Relations Coordinator

Administrative Manager

Program Coordinator (Grief & Bereavement Support, Visiting Volunteer Coordinator)

Events & Residential Volunteer Coordinator

Clinical Care Team 

Clinical Program Manager