A conversation: The Waiting Room Revolution

Justine has been an Occupational Therapist for 23 years, joining Pilgrims Hospices in 2011 as the Therapies and Wellbeing Manager. She is passionate about enabling patients to live as well as possible for as long as possible, and promoting the role of the Allied Heath Professional (AHP) in palliative care.

Hsien is the Canada Research Chair in Palliative Care and Health System Innovation and an Associate Professor in the Department of Oncology, McMaster University. He publishes health care and policy research focused on improving care for patients with serious illness. He won the Canadian Institutes of Health Research’s New Investigator award in 2015 and held the Cancer Care Ontario Chair in Health Services Research in 2009-2014.

Andrew is the Director of Medicine for Pilgrims Hospices. He joined Pilgrims Hospices as a consultant in 2000 in a joint post with East Kent Hospitals. He became Medical Director at Pilgrims in 2015, balancing his leadership and clinical commitments. Andrew strongly believes in the importance of research and skilled communication to improve patient care. He is proud of Pilgrims’ research pedigree and enjoys his role as an advanced communication skills facilitator.

Samantha is an Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Family Medicine, in the Division of Palliative Care at McMaster University. She teaches palliative care to health care professionals. She won the Ontario College of Family Physicians Award of Excellence in 2010, the Elizabeth J. Latimer Prize in Palliative Care in 2018, and the Dr. S. Lawrence Librach Award for Palliative Medicine in the Community in 2019.