Our History

Nurses spearhead change 

Nurses from the BC Registered Nurses Association on the Sunshine Coast knew there had to be a better way to care for the dying. They hosted a well-attended public forum on the topic of hospice care, and their hope was to tell the community about starting a volunteer-led hospice program. 

Sunshine Coast Hospice Steering Committee formed

After hearing what local people wanted and needed for their dying loved ones, a group of concerned healthcare professionals formed a Steering Committee. The committee included Martha Scales (then the Executive Director of Home Support Services), her husband Bob Scales, a minister; Dr. Al Swan, Maybeth Hoagland and Wendy Hunt, the head of nursing at what is now called Sechelt Hospital. Using their own financial resources, they researched hospice and visited other palliative hospice programs across BC, and together they built a comprehensive volunteer training program. 

First Hospice volunteer training held

The first-ever Hospice volunteer training was held over a period of four weeks. It was led by Martha & Bob Scales, Maybeth Hoagland, nurse Heather Blackwood, and Dr. Al Swan. They trained 10 volunteers: among them were Rosemary Hoare, Mary Macdonald, and Peggy Cotgrave. Since 1987, the annual hospice volunteer training has become a critical ingredient to delivering Hospice services. Hoare and Blackwood would go on to become the first Hospice volunteer coordinators on the Coast.

Hospice gets helped by Home Support

With no funding, Hospice operates loosely under Home Support Services on the second floor of St. Mary’s Hospital (now Sechelt Hospital). This provides the volunteer coordinators with access to phones, photocopying, and a central meeting space.

The first hospice library begins

Volunteers start a hospice library to provide books on death, dying, and grief, kept near the Home Support office. Over the years, the library moved to various temporary locations until it found its current permanent home as the Kate Webb Library at Hospice House in Davis Bay, and online.

Lights of Life event founded

Lights of Life — Hospice’s December public outreach and fundraising event — starts for the first time in malls on the Coast. Passersby can write a tribute on an ornament to a loved one who has passed away, and hang it on the tree provided. Lights of Life also provided the chance for the public to support Hospice with an optional donation over the holiday season.

Lighting of the Memories event founded 

The ceremonial beach bonfire event called Lighting of the Memories is founded as the emotional and symbolic conclusion to the Lights of Life event. The bonfire is held on the beach on New Years’ Day and attendees place the handwritten cards with loving tributes into the fire, as a symbolic release of the sentiments expressed. It is the first such hospice-related event of its kind in BC. 

Closure of St. Mary’s palliative beds spurs action

St. Mary’s (now Sechelt Hospital) closes its second floor, eliminating any use of beds for palliative care on the Coast. 

This spurred the creation of a volunteer-driven Hospice Steering Committee, with members including Cam and Loreen Reid of the Sechelt Rotary Club, Maureen and John Clayton, Dr. Bruce Ford, Tony Pike, and Dean Butler. The committee spent the year touring the province at their own expense, visiting other Hospices and fundraising outside of their regular jobs. 

The hope was that the Sechelt Rotary Club would build the free-standing hospice, the Clayton family would donate the land, and VCH could cover the operating costs. However, after negotiations it was learned that VCH would not cover the cost of around-the-clock medical care for the hospice facility — then estimated at $450,000 per year — so no free-standing facility was built.

Hospice becomes an official Society

After the second floor closure, Hospice was no longer receiving in-kind support from Home Support Services. However, the palliative care group continued to be led from the home of the new volunteer coordinator, Diana Giles.  

In 1999, the free-standing hospice steering committee and the grassroots palliative care volunteers coordinated by Giles, combined their efforts and amalgamated. On September 30, 1999, Sunshine Coast Hospice was incorporated as a non-profit charity under the Society Act. It was henceforth recognized as an organization with a specific mission, constitution and bylaws, and an entity that people could donate to and receive a tax receipt.

Committee funds two hospice beds at Garden Inn in Gibsons

The steering committee had raised substantial funds; over $100,000 for the campaign for a stand-alone Hospice. Since the facility had not been built, Sunshine Coast Hospice put the donated money towards the opening of two hospice beds at the Garden Inn in Gibsons on October 3, 2001. The Society furnished the rooms, purchased lifts and paid the monthly room rental rate. It partnered with Coast Garibaldi Health and Community Health Council, while VCH provided the health care.

Hospice care moves to Shorncliffe

Four years later, on March 2005, VCH closes the Garden Inn hospice beds. The Hospice Society raises $80,000 to pay for room renovations so they can open two new hospice beds at Shorncliffe Intermediate Care Home in Sechelt. Over the years, with the help of generous donations from the community, Shorncliffe receives equipment upgrades and improvements to the decor.

New tranquility garden opens at Shorncliffe Hospice

Thanks to volunteers and a visiting group from Canada World Youth, a new tranquility garden is constructed for patients and families at Shorncliffe Hospice to enjoy peace and relaxation.

Hospice gains Hospice House, a headquarters in Davis Bay!

Thanks to a generous donation by Rosemary Hoare, the first Hospice co-coordinator, the Hospice society signs a lease agreement with the District of Sechelt to occupy the building in Davis Bay called Kirkland House. This provided a lovely new space for programming, offices, volunteer functions, bereavement support groups, the library and other activities. This was a pivotal change for Hospice as for twelve years the organization had held meetings and functions in different spaces across the Coast.

Grief programming established

A group of volunteers, including Esme Stokhuyzen, Keith Brind, Sharon Halford, Caron Hawrychuk and Jean Rice, decide to start grief and loss programming at Hospice House. They began by using a manual from Penticton Hospice, and adapted it to meet the needs of the Sunshine Coast. The grief programs have since helped hundreds of families on the Coast.

New Silverstone Care Centre puts Shorncliffe Hospice in uncertain future

In 2016, VCH releases plans to close public care facilities like Totem Lodge and Shorncliffe, and build a new private facility called Silverstone Care Centre. Since this time, VCH has shared they will be repurposing Totem and Shorncliffe but the plans are still in progress. This makes the future of Shorncliffe Hospice uncertain, and so Sunshine Coast Hospice forms a Steering Committee to make plans for a future, permanent Home for Hospice.

To prepare for the future Home for Hospice, the BC Centre for Palliative Care gives Hospice $200,000 for medical furnishings when the new hospice is built. Significant gifts have already been donated to help us kick-start this project, with over $1M raised to date! Negotiations for a future site are still underway.

Celebrating 30 Years!

To celebrate the 30th anniversary, Hospice hosts a 30th anniversary event called, “A Legacy of Love.” With over 800 attendees, the event featured speakers, artists, musicians and First Nations guests who shared ideas, perspectives and stories about death and grief, advance care planning and Medical Assistance in Dying. A special effort was made by Heather Conn to archive Hospice’s past, including a video of the project.  

This public education event, spearheaded by Board Member Donna Shugar, was one of the biggest outreach events in our history. It spurred the formal creation of the volunteer-led Education & Outreach Committee which still exists to deliver Hospice programming to this day.

Hospice grows its staff team

In 2020, the Hospice Board starts to strategically hire a team of staff to prepare the charity for the future Home for Hospice capital campaign and expansion of Hospice services. This includes the organization’s first Executive Director and first fundraising professional. Hospice also hires a dedicated part-time Volunteer Coordinator and part-time Client Services Coordinator; both busy roles which were previously held by just one client services position. The existing position of Administrative Assistant compliments the staff team.

Hospice launches two new programs & Hospice House gets a makeover!

The investment in people pays off, as Sunshine Coast Hospice sees major developments! Despite the significant challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, Hospice launches two new programs, kick-starts a documentary series, and renovates the Hospice House program and office space.

Hospice launches the Green Sleeve Advance Care Planning program in collaboration with community partners, to help the community to plan their future wishes for health care.

Hospice creates The Circle palliative wellness day program, a weekly drop-in for palliative clients and their caregivers to focus on activities that will enhance their well-being and develop community and connection. 

And, thanks to the leadership of Board Vice-President, Paul Mears and many generous companies on the Coast, Hospice House receives a renovation of the program space in the main floor of the building valued at over $40,000! In addition, the District of Sechelt gives Hospice access to the lower floor of the building, freeing up new program space for grief groups and other vital services.

Sunshine Coast Hospice celebrates its 35th anniversary!

Through a grant from the Ananda Fund, we were able to refresh our branding elements and website in time for the 35th anniversary.

Sunshine Coast Hospice and the Palliative Care Working Group* of the Sunshine Coast Division of Family Practice published the study "Palliative and end-of-life care on the Sunshine Coast." The study found that as the Sunshine Coast is one-third seniors, there is a need for more hospice and respite beds and home-based care services for people approaching the end of their lives. Coast Hospice staff continues to plan ahead in preparation for the projected 5% increase in seniors on the Sunshine Coast over the next decade, far outpacing the BC average. 

https://www.coasthospice.com/news/blog-study-of-palliative-care-on-the-sunshine-coast

Sunshine Coast Hospice is grateful to Don Basham for establishing the Glenda Mitchell Memorial Endowment with the Sunshine Coast Community Foundation. Each year, Coast Hospice receives a gift from the earnings on this and other endowments to provide compassionate and respectful end-of-life and grief support for all residents of the Sunshine Coast.

Increase of programming and hospice beds on the coast with the announcement of “A Home for Hospice.”

Hospice programming has flourished this year with the launch of the “Yoga for the Grieving Heart” series in collaboration with community partners and hospice volunteer Camellia Rumball to enhance well-being and develop community and connection. And the new grief support group titled “Traumatic Loss Grief Group: Death by Suicide or Substance Use.”

Totem Lodge and Shorncliffe Intermediate Care Home were both closed in January of this year as the transition into Silverstone's 128-bed long-term care facility opened their doors. This new care home, operated by Trellis and contracted by Vancouver Coastal Health, doubled the number of hospice beds on the coast from two to four.

In the fall of 2024, Coast Hospice, in partnership with Vancouver Coastal Health, announced plans for the coast’s first residential hospice to be located in Roberts Creek. This home's opening will again increase the number of hospice beds on the coast from 4 to 8, creating the space for superior health care.