Hospice Georgian Triangle has been awarded the 2026 Mount Pleasant Group Hospice Innovation Award for its newly established palliative care resource nurse (PCRN) role, bridging a gap in care by placing hospice expertise directly into Collingwood General and Marine Hospital (CGMH).
Working within the hospital, Alanna Roylance supports the clinical team by guiding families along their care journey. The role assists in care and symptom conversations, ensures patients understand care options, answers questions, and connects families to community resources and hospice care when appropriate. The award highlights how collaboration between care settings can positively impact the strained healthcare system and improve the experience of patients from within.
In its first year, the program supported 461 referrals, including 233 direct hospice referrals, 126 transfers to Campbell House for end-of-life care and more than 100 emergency department consultations. The role also redirected 40 cases from hospital admission by connecting them with alternative care settings.
“Recognition like this helps shine a light on what is possible when community hospice and acute-care work together,” said Hospice Georgian Triangle CEO Trish Rawn.
“When one nurse could sit with a patient, understand what mattered most to them, connect the family to support and help the hospital team plan the next right step, we could see the difference immediately.”
Additionally, the PCRN has provided mentorship and education to 100 healthcare providers, further increasing palliative care capacity. The success of this role begins with the trusting relationship Hospice Georgian Triangle and Collingwood General and Marine Hospital have built together, one that prioritizes patient and family experience through compassionate, person-centred care.
“Palliative care is all about excellent symptom management and optimizing quality of life,” said Roylance. “Beingable to sit with people and ask them what is most important to them, helping them process their feelings about their illness, reminding them that they have a choice in what their journey looks like – it is so rewarding to empower people, and to bring comfort to those that are suffering. The PCRN role has been a perfect fit for who I am as a nurse, and now being recognized on a provincial level for the impact that the PCRN role has had is a huge honour.”
“This is not innovation for the sake of innovation; it’s an innovation that meets people at the bedside. Mount Pleasant Group’s recognition shares with our community, donors, and partners that their support is extending beyond the walls of one organization,” said Hospice Georgian Triangle Foundation executive director Sandra Sullivan.
The recognition from Mount Pleasant Group emphasizes the promise of the model. It signals a meaningful shift in how palliative care is understood, not as support reserved only for the final days of life, but as an approach that can enhance quality of life much earlier in a person’s illness. In honour of the valuable care provided through the PCRN, the hospice has been awarded a $10,000 gift of recognition alongside the award from Mount Pleasant Group.
Contributed photo: Hospice Georgian Triangle palliative care resource nurse Alanna Roylance, PCRN and CEO Trish Rawn accept the award from Mount Pleasant Group Hospice representatives at the Hospice Palliative Care Ontario conference.
