About Us
Our Mission
Carpenter Hospice is a centre of excellence providing residential and community-based palliative care that, in collaboration with community partners, enables Burlington residents and their families to experience a personal, dignified and meaningful palliative journey.
Our Vision
To be an integral part of a caring and collaborative community that provides compassionate care for everyone on their palliative journey when and where needed.
Our Values
Honesty & Integrity – We build trust through responsible actions, open communication and honest relationships.
Respect – We treat everyone with respect, as we wish to be treated.
Responsibility & Accountability – We take responsibility for our performance in all of our decisions and actions.
Compassion – Compassion drives our commitment to serve others with empathy, respect and dignity.
Commitment – We are dedicated to the well-being of our clients, our families, our community and each other.
Our History
Fundraising for the Hospice began in 1999 when the four Rotary Clubs of Burlington committed $250,000 toward developing the Hospice, kicking off the Rotary Community Hospice Project. The capital campaign goal was $1 million to build the Hospice and $600,000 for the first year’s operation.
Burlington resident Len Carpenter donated $500,000 to the project. Len had lived quietly and without recognition in Burlington for 47 years. The then 79-year-old Carpenter said that his experiences with a hospice in California convinced him of the importance of this end-of-life service.
With its campaign goal within reach, the community hospice project focused on finding a home. St. Stephen United Church generously offered a 100-year lease on property adjacent to its parking lot for “one dollar and a rose” a year.
Other generous donations from the community and local businesses followed. Land development, design plans, legal representation, space planning and construction project management, to name just a few, were donated by Burlington’s generous and skilled residents.
On May 25, 2002, Carpenter Hospice officially opened its doors to its first residents; it was one of only eight at that time in the Province. It had indeed taken a community to realize the Rotary Community Hospice Project.
In early 2018, the Board approved a bold capital campaign to transform the Hospice to meet the growing need for compassionate care in the Burlington community. Once again, the community responded, and the Angelo & Darlene Paletta Care Wing opened in June 2020.
With a new facility, the time was right to focus on expanding our community programs and support services. In November 2021, the Hospice launched its $1.5 million Bridge of Care Matching Campaign, and Blair and Kathy McKeil, together with Henry and Grace Hildebrand generously donated leadership gifts. The matching challenge was met through additional community support. The McKeil Family Centre for Community Care was opened in June 2022.
Our Care Philosophy
Hospice palliative care providers across Ontario are united in their philosophy of care, values, and principles based on the work of the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association’s A Model to Guide Hospice Palliative Care Based on National Principles and Norms of Practice (2013). We recognize that providing care and comfort is a priority when a cure is not possible. We realize the value of attending to the emotional, social and spiritual needs along with a person’s physical health care needs. We view each person as having unique hopes, fears, anger, expectations and desires. Our inter-professional teams provide compassionate, supportive, palliative care, which is client-centred, holistic and culturally sensitive.
Our Culture
Carpenter Hospice’s community is enriched by diversity and inclusion. We recognize that every person brings a unique perspective and experience.
Aligned with our values, our community is culturally richer when individuals feel respected, included, and thoroughly welcomed to participate.
Carpenter Hospice is committed to increasing equal opportunity, diversity and a future of inclusivity. We welcome and encourage persons of any identity, orientation, and ability to join our team.
Strategic Plan
Our Strategic Plan 2018-2023 reflects what we expect to be a period of evolution for hospice palliative care. This bold plan provides Carpenter Hospice with a timely opportunity to revisit and strengthen the foundations upon which it has built its success. It is a chance for Carpenter Hospice to reinforce its commitment to participants, patients, families, and their loved ones. At the same time, it capitalizes on its strengths and uniqueness, enhances its performance, and explores new ways to meet the emerging needs of hospice palliative care patients, participants, and their families.
Making Moments Matter
Strategic Vision
Accreditation
The Hospice has engaged Sandra Andreychuk in a consultant role as our Healthcare Quality & Accreditation Lead to help us prepare for and achieve Accreditation from the Hospice Palliative Care Ontario Accreditation (HPCO) in 2025.
Sandra has a wealth of experience in policy development, end-of-life planning, and ethics. These skills and experiences will be critical to our work, ensuring our readiness for Accreditation.
The Accreditation process is a comprehensive review of the Hospice’s standards and practices to ensure consistent, high-quality hospice palliative care. The 12-month process includes self-assessments, peer and committee reviews, and the development of quality improvement plans.
HPCO Accreditation signifies to health professionals, the public, and funders that an organization, institution or program complies with industry standards and has been recognized by HPCO based on a rigorous review of overall performance by industry peers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Isn’t hospice where you go when there is “nothing else to be done”?
Hospice is the “something more” that can be done for the patient and their family to improve the quality of life for those with a life-limiting illness. It is about living life as fully as possible until death. Staff and volunteers work to relieve symptoms and offer physical, spiritual, emotional and psycho-social support to help the family and/or caregiver during illness and bereavement.
Is hospice care expensive?
At Carpenter Hospice, we can offer all of our services and programs at no cost to our residents, program participants and their families. Hospice care is high-quality palliative care and less expensive than conventional care per day.
Can I keep my doctor if I enter Hospice?
Hospice staff work closely with your family doctor to determine a care plan.
Does palliative care mean no more treatment?
When a palliative care team takes over a patient’s care, treatment doesn’t automatically stop. Treatment and therapies can continue, but they have different goals. For example, you may still be offered radiotherapy if you have cancer. Radiotherapy isn’t meant to cure the cancer; instead, it helps shrink the tumour to alleviate pain or discomfort.
Is palliative care only for people with cancer?
No, it is offered to anyone dying of a chronic or terminal illness. As well as cancer, this includes AIDS, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, and many other fatal conditions.
Does palliative care mean very close to death?
Palliative care isn’t offered according to the amount of time you have left to live, but according to how much you need the services of a palliative care team approach. Someone transferred to palliative care may die within days or weeks, or they may live for considerably longer.
Will my family be able to help in palliative care?
The care at the end of life isn’t just about physical comfort, it’s about emotional and psychological support for everyone who loves and is part of the dying patient’s life. The palliative care team cares for the dying patient and their family and friends in an inclusive environment.
Will I lose all control if I agree to palliative care?
No. Palliative care is a medical specialty like cardiology, pediatrics, and obstetrics. None of the specialties take over; they specialize in helping the patients under their care. If you are a patient in palliative care, you are consulted and part of the team for as long as possible.
What do I need to bring when I move to Carpenter Hospice?
We strive to make the hospice as “home-like” as possible. We are happy to supply residents with everything they need. However, if someone has a personal preference for certain products (like a favourite soap or shampoo), you are welcome to bring those. We also encourage people to make the room feel like their own. Please feel free to bring photos, artwork, a special pillow and blankets. We want everyone to feel at home as much as possible.
We request that families not bring in furniture or electrical items, such as heating pads/electric blankets, fans or space heaters. We have inspected and CSA-approved fans and heaters available on-site.
Can do I donate food to the Hospice kitchen?
We appreciate our community’s generosity. To ensure we can use your donation or answer any questions about what can be donated, please reach out to John Gilbert at 905-631-9994, ext. 118
or by email at jgilbert@thecarpenterhospice.com