Thursday, 4 June, 2020
The Board of Directors of St. Joseph’s Lifecare Foundation and St. Joseph’s Lifecare Centre Brantford are pleased to announce the appointment of Julie Powell as President and CEO of St. Joseph’s Lifecare Foundation, effective June 8, 2020.
“I am extremely pleased and excited to welcome Julie to our Brantford campus,” says David Wormald, President of St. Joseph’s Lifecare Centre Brantford and St. Joseph’s Health Centre Guelph.
“Julie has an impressive track record of performance excellence and I know she will make significant contributions towards realizing the strategic goals of both the Hospice and Lifecare Centre.”
Julie brings to the position over 23 years of non-profit and fundraising leadership. She has worked within the St. Joseph’s Health System for the past three years as Director of Leadership Giving for St. Mary’s General Hospital Foundation, Kitchener, with a focus on leading major gifts, planned giving and sponsorship programs for the organization.
Prior to her role at St. Mary’s, Julie was Director of Development at Norfolk General Hospital Foundation in Simcoe, where she led the Foundation team to raise $1.5 million annually for new equipment needs at the hospital. Concurrent with the annual giving campaign and in partnership with volunteers, Julie spearheaded a $13 million capital campaign to renovate the hospital.
Previously Julie was the Area Manager for the Heart & Stroke Foundation, supporting offices in Brantford, Hamilton, Brampton, Kitchener, Guelph and Niagara in fundraising, health promotion and advocacy.
Julie has been a Rotarian for seven years and locally has volunteered with the Heart & Stroke Foundation for nine years. She has lived in Brantford for 20 years and is very passionate about working in and contributing to the community she calls home.
Incoming chair Steve Portelli stated, “The Board conducted a detailed, comprehensive search and of approximately 60 applicants, at least 10 were strong, viable candidates. Of those, Julie soon emerged as the ideal candidate for the position, meeting the benchmarks the Board had established for each level of the interview process. It was clear she was the right fit for us.”
Julie assumes the role on June 8, replacing outgoing President and CEO Olga Consorti, who is retiring in her 30th year with St. Joseph’s Lifecare Foundation.
“The Board is tremendously pleased and thankful to have benefitted from Olga’s outstanding fundraising skills, and especially for her vital role in the building of the initial Stedman Hospice in 2004 and the new Hospice, Hankinson House, in 2014. Olga also played an instrumental role in the redevelopment of the former St Joseph’s Hospital to create St. Joseph’s Lifecare Centre,” says Karen Robb, current Chair of the Foundation.
“We wish Olga the very best in her future endeavours,” says Robb.
Unfortunately, due to the COVID 19 pandemic, a planned retirement event for Olga Consorti has been postponed and an event to welcome Julie Powell will take place once face-to-face group meeting restrictions are lifted.
St. Joseph’s Lifecare Foundation is the official fundraising organization for both Stedman Community Hospice, a 10-bed hospice and community outreach centre, and St. Joseph’s Lifecare Centre, a 205-bed long term care facility, which together form St. Joseph’s campus of care in Brantford, part of the St. Joseph’s Health System.
By Katrina Clarke Spectator Reporter
Mon., April 20, 2020
COVID-19 Drive-through testing site in Hamilton Ontario (Hamilton Spectator Photo)
A new pilot project will see some 3,000 asymptomatic residents and staff at Hamilton and area care settings tested for COVID-19.
On Monday, St. Joseph’s Health System and Niagara Health announced a pilot project is underway to test all asymptomatic patients, residents and some staff in its long-term care homes, retirement homes and congregate settings, such as hospices.
The goal is to gain a better understanding of how the virus spreads, how can spread be prevented and what testing strategies are most effective when the subjects are concentrated in one place, said Dr. Jack Gauldie, vice-president of research at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton.
“Right now, we stand outside long-term care homes and we don’t know how many people are carriers in there, how many people are affected,” Gauldie said. “The earlier you catch something, the earlier you can do something about it.”
The announcement comes a week after the province said more people in long-term care settings would be tested for the virus. Testing of all asymptomatic staff and residents at “select homes” would take place, said Minister of Long-Term Care Merrilee Fullerton.
Dr. Tom Stewart, CEO of St. Joseph’s Health System, said those involved with the pilot project wanted to be ahead of the curve.
“Let’s get an understanding of are there patients in there that are asymptomatic that could be the cause of a future outbreak?” Stewart said. “Let’s collect more information.”
Testing is already underway.
According to a release, 111 long-term care residents have so far been tested for COVID-19 “whether they had symptoms or not” as part of the pilot. All tests were negative. Staff have the option of being tested.
All 3,000 tests are expected to be carried out this week, Stewart said.
Facilities included in the pilot project include St. Joseph’s Villa in Dundas, St. Joseph’s Health Centre in Guelph, St. Joseph’s Lifecare Centre Brantford and Stedman Community Hospice in Brantford, St. Joseph’s Home Care First Place retirement living in Hamilton and the Niagara Health long-term care unit in Welland.
Hamilton public health, meanwhile, has carried out “mass testing” of staff and residents at seniors’ care homes, said Dr. Bart Harvey, Hamilton’s associate medical officer of health, on Monday.
Mass testing sites include Cardinal Retirement Residence, Chartwell Deerview Crossing Retirement Residence and Kingsberry Retirement Residence. Outbreaks are ongoing at each location.
So far, 45 residents and 17 staff at Cardinal have tested positive. Six died. One staff member at Chartwell Deerview tested positive and three Kingsberry residents have tested positive.
Harvey said mass testing gives public health “a much better idea of what efforts are needed and what strategies are needed to curb any further transmission.”
Long-term care homes across the country have been the epicentre of deadly COVID-19 outbreaks for more than a month. Half of Canada’s COVID-19 deaths stem from long-term care homes, said Dr. Theresa Tam, the country’s chief public health officer, last week.
As of Monday, 16 people in Hamilton have died from COVID. All but four were residents of one of two long-term care homes — Heritage Green and Cardinal — or Emmanuel House Hospice.
The pilot project is a joint effort and includes researchers at the Research Institute of St. Joe’s Hamilton, McMaster University, Hamilton Regional Laboratory Medicine Program, Guelph Family Health Team and GTA public health units.
Gauldie said once the project is complete, experts will analyze data, looking at how to minimize glitches, maximize efficiency and improve accuracy.
“We need to see how to do it correctly,” he said.
Katrina Clarke is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach her via email: katrinaclarke@thespec.com