​Huron Shores Hospice welcomes new support and education co-ordinator

Eugene Dufour (above) is the new support and education co-ordinator at Huron Shores Hospice.

With more than three decades of experience in hospice palliative care, bereavement, trauma, and family therapy, Dufour brings extraordinary depth, wisdom, and compassion to this role.

He’ll be providing direct support to hospice guests and their families, while also leading many of the grief support and community education programs.

"For the past 46 years, I have dedicated my career to providing excellence in trauma work, grief counselling, and hospice palliative care,” says Dufour. “I have worked from coast-to-coast across Canada at national, provincial, and regional levels, as well as abroad in the United States and Ireland. I am grateful to share my expertise and passion with others.

“Through education, advocacy, best practices, and direct service, I have been, and continue to be, a pillar in offering psychosocial, spiritual, and bereavement support to individuals, families, and caregivers.

“Over the years, I have been honoured to receive several awards and recognitions. These include the Commemorative Medal for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee, awarded by the Governor General of Canada for my work in hospice palliative care. I was also named a Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International for my role in establishing Rotary Hospice of Stratford Perth. In April 2022, Hospice Palliative Care Ontario presented me with the Dr. Dorothy Ley Award of Excellence in Hospice Palliative Care.

“In March, 2012, Michelle O’Rourke and I published our book, 'Embracing the End of Life – Help for Those Who Accompany the Dying.'

“I approach all I am called to do from a place of being called. A place I enter with the utmost compassion, dignity, humility and respect for the sacredness of the human spirit."