The NOHS team receiving their award from Health Quality B.C. for the Hospice at Home program (Image Credit: Liam Verster / Vernon Matters)

By Liam Verster

Health Quality Award

NOHS recognized for Hospice at Home program

Mar 19, 2026 | 4:31 PM

The local organization that supports people with end of life care has received a prestigious award.

North Okanagan Hospice Society (NOHS) was recognized for its Hospice at Home program with a B.C. Quality Award from Health Quality B.C.

The award was presented to NOHS at a celebration at its Hospice House in Vernon Thursday, March 19.

“At a time when more people are choice in how they live their final chapter, especially the ability to be at home, you have responded with vision and heart, something that all of us can learn from,” Anthon Meyer, Vice-Chair of Health Quality B.C., said in his presentation of the award.

“You have created a model of care that brings clinical excellence into the home while wrapping it in compassion, respect, dignity and humanity. You support not only patients, but the families [as well]; you ease not only the symptoms, but the fear and uncertainty; and you create space for connection, meaning, and even moments of peace, and you remind me about the joy as well. These are moments where there is so much joy if we can see beyond the pain and the hurt.

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“What makes this work truly exceptional is how intentionally this was built. You listened to your community, you honour diverse needs, values and cultural practices, and you removed barriers ensuring that even those without a family physician or those most vulnerable are never turned away. That is exceptional. This is what quality looks like to me and to Health Quality B.C.”

Hospice at Home is a program that sees people receive end-of-life care in their own residences, allowing people to access the services as NOHS Hospice House only has 12 bedrooms and no space or funding to expand further.

Speaking with Vernon Matters following the ceremony, Megan Cox, Executive Director for NOHS, said the program is very unique.

“It’s not broadly done,” Cox explained.

“It’s done in Prince George, and Prince George actually supported us a lot when we got started and provided a lot of resources and mentorship.”

She went on to say it “means everything to us” to be able to offer the program.

“We’re part of the community and we need to support the community and want to be there for people, so we don’t want anybody going without and waiting to come in or not be able to stay home if they need to. It really just helps us feel like we’re leaning in to why we’re here and making sure everybody has the ability to have a quality end of life.”

Meyer also noted that the program is very needed and fills a gap.

“To discover that [Hospice at Home] was intentionally built with the foresight of the [NOHS] board and the leadership that saw that they could not expand the footprint of the building, it’s not about the bricks and mortar it’s about the program and how do you really reach out through community involvement,” the Health Quality B.C. representative told Vernon Matters.

“Seeing what they built is something that I hope many others might learn from because this is incredible work.”

Cox added that the team at NOHS had worked very hard to get the program running and to serve the community, and was very proud to be recognized with the award.

Meyer also stated it was humbling to be able to deliver this award, calling the program “a pearl, something that is so beautiful and just emulates what quality should stand for.”

Amy Klassen, speaking on behalf of Vernon-Lumby MLA Harwinder Sandhu who could not attend the ceremony, said the work NOHS does matters to those in need of care and their families.

“You create space for people to be in familiar and comfortable surroundings with dignity, compassion and the people who mean most to them,” Klassen stated.

“You do this for everyone, meeting people where they are and treating even the most vulnerable and marginalized with the same care, respect and humanity. In doing that you ease a part of that fear and discomfort, and that is a beautiful and powerful thing.”

Kris Fuller, NOHS’s Operations Manager, also told Vernon Matters that she and the team were very proud with the Hospice at Home program and how it serves people, and how they have been recognized for that hard work. 

Along with the award, NOHS was gifted a $2,500 prize from Health Quality B.C. Cox told Vernon Matters the clinical team would be using the money for some form of professional development, though a decision on exactly how it would be spent had not been formally decided as of time of publication.