File photo by Liam Verster / Vernon Matters

By Liam Verster

NOHS Hospice At Home

Hospice at Home Program recognized with award

Dec 10, 2025 | 2:01 PM

The North Okanagan Hospice Society has been recognized for its work delivering end-of-life care to people in their own homes.

NOHS was the recipient of a B.C. Quality Award from Health Quality B.C. for its Hospice at Home Program. The award came through the agency’s Coping with Transition from Life category.

“This award is an extraordinary honour, and it belongs to our community,” Megan Cox, executive director of the North Okanagan Hospice Society, stated.

“Our Hospice at Home program exists because people in the North Okanagan choose to show up for their neighbours with generosity and compassion. It’s 100 per cent donor-funded, and it ensures that not having a family physician is no longer a barrier to accessing hospice care in our community. Everyone deserves quality end-of-life care — no exceptions.”

Hospice at Home was developed locally with the goal of providing care to people in their own homes, while also ensuring their families and caregivers were supported in dealing with the realities of serious illness, dying, and grief.

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NOHS Hospice At Home

Hospice at Home Program recognized with award

3h ago

“The program is delivering measurable, compassionate impact across the North Okanagan by helping people stay safely supported at home, while reducing avoidable strain on the health-care system,” NOHS said in a release.

“With 24/7 on-call nursing, timely check-ins, and immediate support when symptoms escalate or families feel overwhelmed, the program helps prevent crisis-driven emergency department visits and unnecessary hospital admissions. The model is deeply family-centred, providing coaching, reassurance, and practical guidance that empowers caregivers and strengthens confidence at home.”

The hospice society added the program not only allows people to live with dignity and comfort until the end of their life, “it also represents a cost-saving approach for the broader health-care system by shifting care from high-cost acute settings to effective, compassionate community-based support.”

Hospice at Home is funded entirely through public donations, with NOHS saying this model helps close the gap in accessing local care.