Victoria Hospice began as a seven-bed pilot project in 1980, the first integrated palliative care program in British Columbia. The Victoria Hospice Society was established in 1983 as a registered charitable organization.   Find out more about who is serving on this year's  Victoria Hospice Society Board of Directors.

C.A.R.E.S. ~ This appropriate acronym is the framework of our strategic plan and reinforces the values we embrace at Victoria Hospice:  care, advocacy, research, education and support.

Everything we do at Victoria Hospice can be summed up as a ‘circle of care’. Even the Celtic knot that is part of our logo represents many persons linked together and interwoven, surrounding the dying person with care and comfort. Our focus is to provide a program of fully integrated medical, emotional and spiritual care, not only for the patient but for family members as well – who are sometimes the forgotten bystanders in end-of-life care. Victoria Hospice care does not end with a patient’s death: our counselling, bereavement and spiritual care team members are available to the family as needed for one year of ongoing grief support.  Find out more about Victoria Hospice care.

The first Canadian hospice palliative care programs were established in 1975 at St. Boniface General Hospital in Winnipeg and at Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal. In 1980, Victoria Hospice became the third in Canada, and the first in British Columbia. Everything we have learned over the years while helping our own patients has made us a more powerful advocate for improving care of the dying in our own community and beyond. We not only respond to emerging palliative care issues as they arise, but we are also proactive lobbyists of federal, provincial and regional governments, professional associations, universities, our strategic partners as well as the general public.

For more information about palliative care advocacy in Canada, visit these websites:
• Senator Sharon Carstairs and Palliative Care
• Health Canada - Palliative Care
• British Columbia Hospice Palliative Care Association
• Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association
• Quality End-of-Life Care: The Right of Every Canadian: Senate Subcommittee report June 2000

We are always learning how to take better care of patients and their families. By focusing on evidence-based practices in our daily work, we can improve the care we provide. To this end, our staff are involved in a number of important palliative care research projects. From our Counselling Department’s examination of the roles and results of counselling activities to the award-winning technology of our Symptom Outcomes Project, we strive to maintain a culture of inquiry to advance palliative care.

Our longstanding education and training programs have attracted participants from across Canada. From the Palliative Care: Medical Intensive course to our Spiritual Care Conference and our Psychosocial Care of the Dying and Bereaved course each year, Victoria Hospice educational programs continue to attract highly regarded faculty and a waiting list of enthusiastic participants. Find out more about Victoria Hospice courses and activities.

Nothing that we accomplish at Victoria Hospice would be possible without our outstanding staff and volunteers. It takes a special kind of person to do this work, and we are extremely proud of our team. We know that our staff will be able to help others when they themselves feel supported and cared about. We recognize the need to provide ongoing support to our team members in a number of ways:

Please note:  Victoria Hospice and Palliative Care Foundation offices have moved to a new address:  Stadacona Centre, 1510 Fort Street, Victoria, BC  V8S 5J2; telephone (250) 952-5720 for donation or fundraising event inquiries.

Find out more about us in our latest Victoria Hospice Annual Report.