Thank you to guest columnist Jenna Kiesman, Community Program Manager at the North Okanagan Hospice Society, for this article!
It’s not easy to talk about death, even in 2024.
Death and dying remains one of the longest-lasting taboos in Canadian/Western society and yet, we will all experience death in some way in our lifetime. In 1948, Dame Cicely Saunders established the first formal hospice in Britain dedicated to the care of terminally ill patients. In Canada, hospice palliative care movement took root in the 1970s, a time of rapid expansion of cancer treatment programs whereby treatment was defined as either curative or palliative. In Vernon in 1979, a small interest group made up of community-minded individuals formed to visit palliative patients in their homes. In 1983, community volunteers (many of them retired nurses) and hospital staff formed the “Vernon Terminally Ill Support Program.” This group hosted information sessions, a membership drive and a conference in Vernon that year.
An excerpt from the Vernon Daily News of 1984 discussing the incorporation of the Vernon & District Hospice Society. Submitted by the author.
Building on the growing community interest and need for a formalized hospice organization, the “Vernon & District Hospice Society” officially incorporated under the BC Societies Act on October 16, 1984, with an elected Board of Directors. The first Board of Directors was made up of 9 community-minded individuals: LaVonne Byron (director), Florence Bergsma (director), Lorna Frolek (chair), Anne Oien (vice-chair), Barbara Schimpl (secretary), Rev. Jane Moorhouse (director), Bob Coates (director), Leah Hollins (treasurer), Marg Forster (director), and Dr. Gordon Mack (director). Then, as now, the Society served palliative patients and their families in Greater Vernon, Armstrong, Enderby and Spallumcheen. As trained volunteers provided social, emotional, and spiritual support in homes, hospitals or residential facilities, the Vernon & District Hospice Society also became a founding member of the British Columbia Hospice Palliative Care Association.
By 1985, the first hospice staff were hired to work in an office provided by the Vernon Jubilee Hospital. Volunteers were trained to meet referrals from physicians, Home Care Nursing and community members. A Bereavement Support Group was also formed in 1985 to provide on-going bereavement care. With the increasing longevity of life through improvements in medicine, the trend of hospice palliative care continues to grow, as does the Vernon & District Hospice Society – now a leader in the province and supporting the formation of Hospice Societies in Kelowna and Penticton.
Vernon’s first hospice building, located at the Vernon Jubilee Hospital. Undated. Submitted by the author.
By 1992, the demand for hospice programs and services in the North Okanagan had grown substantially. In 1996, a detailed plan was developed to raise funds to build a freestanding Hospice House. The first major donation came from the Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia: $300,000 (over $536,000 in today’s value). This building remains standing on Vernon’s 27th Avenue.
In 2024, the NOHS is celebrating its 40th Anniversary; on Tuesday, October 15th, the public is invited to an event at the Vernon & District Performing Arts Centre in celebration of this milestone. Visit https://nohs.ca/events/40th-anniversary-event/ for more info.