On Tuesday, November 18, 2025, we marked National Grief and Bereavement Day with intention and impact at the BC Legislature.

Representing the hospice palliative care sector were:
️Amanda McNally, Executive Director, Peace Arch Hospice Society
️Donna Flood, Executive Director, Prince George Hospice Society
️Teri Henderson, CEO, Victoria Hospice Society
Pablita Thomas, Executive Director, BC Hospice Palliative Care Association

Together, we carried the voices of community hospice societies across BC into the province’s political corridors.

Hospice societies and their work in grief and bereavement were formally acknowledged on the record in the Legislative Gallery, a moving moment of visibility for our sector and the families we serve.

During Question Period, issues around the Comox Valley 50 % hospice bed reductions were raised, igniting broader discussion on end-of-life care, grief supports, and seniors care. Remarkably, nearly 30% of Question Period focused on our sector services, including seniors care, end of life care, a community care, just to name a few,  an unprecedented recognition of its role in BC’s health system.

We held productive, solution focused meetings with:

• Ministry of Health senior officials
• MLAs from BC Conservatives, including Health and Seniors Critics and party leader.
• All three Health Parliamentary Secretaries, representing Mental Health, Rural Health, and Seniors & Long-Term Care

Our message was clear:

✅ Hospice societies are essential, community-based partners in BC’s health system.

✅ Grief and bereavement supports must be fully integrated into planning and funding.

✅ Community-led, low barrier hospice care is not only compassionate, it’s fiscally responsible, and critical to reducing system strain.

We’re building on this momentum with:

• A Strategic Grief and Bereavement Framework for provincial grief and bereavement integration (2026)
• A toolkit for MLA champions and government ambassadors
• A public facing awareness campaign
• A revitalized working group to support cross sector leadership

We’re grateful for the support, interest, and genuine dialogue at the Legislature, and for every hospice society, staff member, and volunteer making this work possible. Your commitment to care, compassion, and dignity was carried with us into every room.

Let’s continue to walk this path .... together.

#GriefAndBereavementDay #HospicePalliativeCare #EndOfLifeCare #HealthSystemIntegration  #CompassionateCommunities #Advocacy #BCHPCA