The Mount Pleasant Group Equity in Action Award recognizes existing or new hospice-led initiatives that have improved access to hospice palliative care services for equity-deserving communities. This award is open to any HPCO member hospice providing service in the province of Ontario.
2025 Award
The winner of the inaugural Mount Pleasant Equity in Action Award is Hospice Northwest.
The Palliative Advocacy Care Team, also known as PACT, is co-led by Hospice Northwest Services with the goal of providing mobile and outreach services to people who are vulnerably housed and diagnosed with serious illnesses in Thunder Bay. Thunder Bay’s vulnerably housed population is also disproportionately composed of Indigenous peoples. PACT consists of approximately 10 organizations who are co-creating low-barrier strategies to improve equitable access to palliative care. Their focus is to provide equitable, safe, and enhanced quality of care.
PACT has accomplished this with a harm reduction outreach team of staff and volunteers who are educated in providing palliative care to people experiencing homelessness. They help to inform future programming through community engagement sessions with a goal of building capacity to address community needs.
“We’re really honoured to have the recognition in our own community because we’re Thunder Bay’s best kept secret,” said Donna Jeanpierre, Executive Director of Hospice Northwest. “We have a growing number of people who are unhoused or vulnerably housed, and they’re not always treated with compassion. Homelessness is a life-limiting illness and I’m really proud of the compassionate response our team demonstrates to them. Winning this award and particularly the funding that comes with it will go a long way to support the clients and the compassionate care that supports that response.”
On average over a six-month period, PACT has 481 client encounters and a 100% satisfaction rate by clients. This initiative has proven to be highly sustainable and has built strong community partnerships within Thunder Bay.
Kimberley Ramsbottom accepted the award on behalf of the Hospice Northwest team on June 9, 2025 at the HPCO Annual Conference. Read more about the Conference and all the award recipients.
