News

La Maison des Collines received a generous donation from Chelsea resident, Meriel Beament Bradford, in honour of her friend Janet Dunbrack. Janet has been a leader in  palliative care across Canada for over 30 years. Thanks to Janet’s sustained leadership, the importance of assistance for care-givers and for end-of-life care has gained the recognition and support of governments and communities.

The MDC is very grateful to Meriel Beament Bradford for her gift in honour of Janet Dunbrack. “I am a proud friend of Janet Dunbrack and also a supporter of La Maison des Collines, a pillar at the heart of our community” stated Ms Bradford. She went on to say that “Our own Maison des Collines offers much needed palliative care services to help ensure individuals live life to the fullest until the very end while also providing compassion and support for families along the way.”

Janet has been active in palliative care both professionally and as a volunteer for more than 30 years. She began volunteering in palliative care at the Toronto Grace Hospital and Hôpital Bruyère in Ottawa.  She was Coordonnatrice des services de soutien at the Centre Pierre-Hénault in Montreal providing support to persons living with HIV/AIDS and their families where her main focus was palliative care.

After working at Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada in HIV/AIDS care, treatment and support, Janet became Executive Director of the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association. In this capacity she was instrumental in bringing together the Canadian End-of-Life Care Coalition of Canada (a partnership of more than 30 organizations) and successfully advocated for changes to the federal Employment Insurance program to provide compassionate care leave for family caregivers.  Janet finished her professional career as a health policy consultant based in Ottawa.

Janet is Past Chair of Hospice Care Ottawa and a grief support volunteer at the Hospice’s Maison de l’Est.  She currently serves on the board of Carefor, a not-for-profit organization providing home and community care in eastern Ontario, including hospice palliative care.  She recently worked with the Champlain Hospice Palliative Care Program to develop a basic hands-on skills training course for family caregivers.  Janet is a recipient of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee medal for service to palliative care in Canada and the June Callwood Hospice Volunteer award.