2011 – 2012
Dr. Bob Henderson - Chair
Dr. Bob Henderson has been practising Family Medicine in Trent Hills since 1977 and has been the Medical Director of the Trent Hills Family Health Team since its inception in 2006. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto and the founder of their Rural Residency Program. Bob completed over 10 years as Chief of Staff at Campbellford Memorial Hospital in 2008, and has served for many years in various capacities on the board of EMAS Canada, a Christian medical humanitarian NGO. In 2009 he was honoured as a Family Physician of the Year by the Ontario College of Family Physicians.
Dean Peters – Vice-chair
Dean Peters is a past Chair of the Board of The Bridge Hospice and just retired from the Municipal Council in Trent Hills. He is also Chair of the Board of St. Paul’s United Church and is active in many community activities and projects in the GWA including the Long Lunch, the Donnybrook, and the Skateboard initiative. Dean retired from Ontario Power Generation in 2003.
Vicki Vannieuwenhuyze - Secretary/Treasurer
Vicki Vannieuwenhuyze moved to Warkworth in 2004 from Mississauga. She has worked with RBC Royal Bank since 1994 and is currently a Financial Planner. She is very active in dance and choreography, sports and other activities. She knows from personal experience how important a residential hospice is for the patient and the family.
Madeline Conacher – Interim Chair Communications & Marketing
Madeline Conacher was a project manager in software development for over 20 years. She now teaches meditation workshops in Toronto and other North American cities. She has been active in hospice work since 2000 – initially in Toronto and now Trent Hills. She has been on The Bridge Hospice Board of Directors since the beginning in 2006.
Dr. Bob Stephens
Dr. Bob Stephens graduated from U of T in Medicine in 1947. Following a degree in Tropical Medicine in Belgium he spent 10 years in the Belgian Congo establishing a hospital. He returned to Toronto in 1961 to establish and direct the International Medical Service. He moved to Campbellford in 1977 to establish a Family Practice. From 1985-98 he was Director of EMAS ( the Evangelical Medical Aid Society ) and traveled extensively to monitor projects. He continues to serve EMAS as a volunteer. He was awarded the Order of Canada in 2006.
Rosaleen Dunne – Board member and Visionary
Rosaleen Dunne is a Reg. N. who has spent twenty years providing care to those in the Palliative phase of their disease, whether in a hospital environment, in the community or in the third world. She is one of the three visionaries who want to create an alternative sacred space for those in need, that of a residential hospice.
Heather Froats
Heather Froats is the minister at St Paul’s United Church in Warkworth. She was a Board member in 2009 and has rejoined the Board in 2011.
Bob Rowe - Nominating Committee Chair
Stella Stacey – Chair Fund-raising
Stella was a Family Studies and E.S.L. teacher for the Toronto Catholic School Board for 23 years. In 2003 she and her husband retired to their country home and are involved with the community and church projects and are especially committed to The Bridge Hospice.
Daniella Rinsma
Eric White
Eric moved to Hastings from Mississauga 3 1/2 years ago. He is a retired RN with a BA from Waterloo University. He has worked mainly in critical care, Emergency at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Toronto and ICU/CCU at Credit Valley Hospital in Mississauga. The last 12 years before retiring he managed a number of units at Credit Valley Hospital namely, ICU/CCU, Ambulatory Care Services, the Endoscopy Suite, and Cardiac Rehab Unit. After retirement he did clinical trials for the Chief of Medicine and coordinated the Tumour Bank for the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research in Pathology/Histology Laboratory at the Credit Valley Hospital. Eric joined the Board in 2011.
Hank St-Onge
Hank St-Onge attended Ryerson Polytechnical College in Toronto and the University of West Virginia where he successfully completed courses in metalurgy, chemistry, electronics and corrosion prevention. President of Duratron Systems Ltd (1975 to 2001), a company that specialized in design and development for pipeline rehabilitation and corrosion control engineering and recognized as an expert in these fields with numerous patents. A frequent speaker and board member at sewer and waterworks associations in Canada and USA. Hank joined the Board in 2011.
Visionaries/Advisors
Pauline Faull
Pauline Faull has been involved in the Palliative Care movement for many years. She worked at St. Peter’s Hospice, Albany N.Y. and trained with E. Kubler Ross. Pauline has a Master’s Degree on the subject of “The marriage between business and voluntary organizations” and studied hospices in England, Scotland, Ireland and the U.S.A. for her thesis. She is a grief therapist and the Founder of Bayview Community Hospice, Toronto. She is one of the Visionaries of the Bridge Hospice and is on the Fund Raising team.
Lynda Pecora
Lynda Pecora is a Reg. N. with more than 40 years experience in nursing. Her passion has always been working with mums and babes and over the past 25 years, palliative/hospice care – “The Comings and The Goings”. She is honoured to have been one of those with a vision of a home of gentle and loving care to those dying in our community. She is on the Volunteer Training Program for The Bridge Hospice.
