Kath Murray, CEO, Life and Death Matters, Michelle McInnes and Rick Firth, President and CEO, HPCO.
The recipient of the 2024 Life and Death Matters Frances Montgomery Personal Support Worker (PSW) Hospice Palliative Care Award is Michelle McInnes.
Michelle is a PSW, at Margaret’s Place Hospice, who consistently goes above and beyond for those in her care. Michelle is always seeing to it that the care she provides and assists her team in providing, is as person-centered as possible. She takes and “makes” the time for the little things, ensuring meaningful experiences in each interaction. She is also known for mentoring and orienting nurses new to the hospice.
Here’s a small sample of what her nominator said about Michelle:
Michelle has a unique and loving holistic approach with the residents and their families. She is able to be cheerful, compassionate, and patient in every interaction.
Michelle does a beautiful job of helping people live well in their last days, improving their quality of life and helping to ease suffering. She keeps people comfortable, rearranges pillows, coifs hair, cuts and paints nails, pampers and reassures, and makes special meals and snacks. She caters to individual preferences on timing of care and type of care, never rushing interactions.
Michelle has always displayed a desire to learn in order to enhance the care that she provides. She enthusiastically completed the PACE course that was offered to her and has implemented this knowledge into her palliative care approach.
Michelle, your willingness to learn, to teach, to train, to collaborate and to continue to grow in your practice are an inspiration. Congratulations!
The Life and Death Matters Frances Montgomery Personal Support Worker Hospice Palliative Care Award acknowledges the invaluable contributions of PSW in providing excellent care for the dying, support for families and loved ones, and in helping to move quality hospice palliative care forward in Ontario. This scholarship is generously sponsored by Life and Death Matters.
The award was presented at the HPCO Conference on June 9, 2024. The 2024 conference theme was Palliative Care Everywhere. Building on the 2023 conference theme of Now is the Time, Palliative Care Everywhere underscores the importance of a palliative approach to care being available in all settings where people die. Despite the progress we have made, many people do not have equitable access to quality, integrated, patient-centred, sustainable hospice palliative care services. Whether at home, in hospice, in long-term care, in hospital, group homes, prisons, shelters, or unhoused, palliative care must be available in all settings and for all people.
Read more about HCPO2024 and the awards presented this year.
