The Board of Directors of Hospice Wellington has announced that Jackie MacKenzie will be starting as Executive Director (ED) on June 29. Jackie will be working with Hospice Wellington as Interim ED until December 2015.
“Jackie has been committed to and supporting Hospice Wellington over the last six years through her role on the Board of Directors,” remarks Susan Farrelly, Chair of the Board. “Of note, she has provided leadership as Chair of the Quality Committee, which has been a great asset to Hospice Wellington. Her experience in the palliative field has been key in assisting the Committee with its strategic clinical work, including planning for the opening of the residence in 2010.”
Jackie has worked extensively in health care leadership for over 30 years, both in community and in hospital settings. The common thread has always been palliative and hospice care.
“Early in my career I experienced a number of significant deaths and when my sister-in-law died at age 34 years, it affected our family profoundly,” shared Jackie. “We were fortunate to have had the wonderful support from the Hospice of Windsor and came to realize that this was greatly needed in every community.”
This was the driving force behind Jackie’s role as co-founder of Hospice of London, which is now St. Joseph’s Hospice.
Since that time, Jackie has worked with numerous government and community partners. Jackie’s most recent experience includes being the Director of Acute Inpatient Services and Palliative Care at Woodstock General
Hospital, managing a team of over 120 employees and was responsible for a multi-million dollar budget. Most recently, she was the co-lead on the Hospice Palliative Care Collaborative for the Southwestern Ontario LHIN, working on Quality Improvements.
The Board of Directors is thankful for Jackie’s experience with Hospice Wellington to date. With Jackie at the helm, the Board will be able to take time to engage employees and stakeholders in visioning the organization’s leadership of the future and to recruit a permanent Executive Director.
“I am excited about the opportunity to work in the role of Executive Director for this great organization,” shares Jackie. “I am looking forward to building on the talent and tremendous successes that have already been achieved with this great team!”
