ONTARIO NOW HAS ONE VISION, ONE VOICE, AND ONE ASSOCIATION!

At the Ontario Palliative Care Association Annual General Meeting on Monday, April 11, 2011, the attendees voted unanimously to transfer all members of OPCA to the newly created Hospice Palliative Care Ontario.  Hospice Palliative Care Ontario is an amalgamation of the Ontario Palliative Care Association and the Hospice Association of Ontario.

Eight members of the previous OPCA Board of Directors were appointed to the HPCO Transition Board:

Together with nine members of the previous HAO Board of Directors, and with counsel from external advisors on governance best practice, this group will steward the new organization during the initial post-merger phase.

The membership elected a Custodial Board of Directors to oversee the necessary actions to incorporate OPCA operations into the HPCO operations and to ensure all the legal actions are completed as required.  Serving on the Custodial Board of Directors are:

                Marg Poling, President
                Debbie Gravelle, Secretary
                Carol Ford, Treasurer

Ellen Power will continue to provide office support as required and assist in the smooth transition of operations to HPCO staff.

The atmosphere at the meeting was one of high excitement and deep emotion as many members expressed their satisfaction that something they had awaited so long has finally come to pass.  Eugene Dufour, a long term OPCA member and past president, commended the boards of both OPCA and HAO on this accomplishment.  Pat Van Den Elzen, another long term member and past president, spoke of working towards this objective almost 15 years ago and how pleased she was to see it finally come to pass.  Chris Sherwood, during his presidency and since, made this his primary objective and was gratified by the membership’s support and thanked Marg Poling and Rick Firth, Executive Director HAO, for all their support and hard work.

There will be communiqués and updates in the upcoming months on the process to all members of HPCO.  Stay tuned. 

Marg Poling, President, OPCA

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Ontario Palliative Care Association (OPCA) is a non-profit organization and its membership reflects the important interdisciplinary approach to hospice palliative care. OPCA offers a range of benefits to its membership and, most importantly, it presents a strong, proactive voice on issues specific to the provision and delivery of quality end-of-life care – professional education, standards of practice, government policy development and funding, and public awareness.

Our Philosophy
The Ontario Palliative Care Association believes that palliative care must:

• be accessible to all individuals and families who are faced with a life threatening illness
• consider the physical, spiritual, psychological, social and information needs of persons and family
• provide support for individuals and families facing death and bereavement

Vision
Quality end-of-life care for all Ontarians.

Mission
How we treat those who are dying in our community reflects who we are as a society. All Ontarians have the right to die with dignity, to have access to physical, psychosocial, and spiritual care. As health care providers, volunteers, and family representatives of Ontario’s hospice palliative care community we advocate for quality end-of-life care using an integrated and collaborative approach.

Goals & Objectives
To support our members by:

• providing education development opportunities to facilitate communication
• being a central resource for information
• being a link between local, regional, provincial and national palliative care

To encourage the development and expansion of palliative care in Ontario by:

• advocating the importance of palliative care through influencing government policy and funding
• promoting standards in palliative care
• participating in the evolution and implementation of standards
• enhancing the work of OPCA
• maintaining financial stability