Editor:
I believe it is important for Deltans to have factual information related to the makeup of the Delta Hospice Society board of directors and its recent actions. There has been considerable media coverage this year with new developments this past week.
Currently there are seven directors on the board, the majority who have been appointed by Angelina Ireland after several elected board members left in recent months. The four appointed directors did not come from the membership but from outside the organization.
Ireland was elected to the board in July 2018 and became president in late November 2019. The other six members have six months or less experience and have met as a board very few times in the last few months. These individuals, with little Delta Hospice Society history, are proposing to make radical changes to the society’s constitution and bylaws.
Ireland has identified herself as executive director and president of the board of directors, therefore in charge of both operations and governance. Many would perceive this as a conflict of interest as she manages the staff and leads the board, thereby accountable to no one.
Volunteers are an integral part of Delta Hospice Society’s service delivery. Hospice volunteers must complete a multi-session training program before being accepted to serve. Over the past 20 years, a very important part of the training addresses spirituality, including personal religious and spiritual beliefs. Volunteers are explicitly told they must not bring their personal views on religion into their hospice volunteer work.
Proposing fundamentalist Christian values as the future overarching purposes for Delta Hospice Society disrespects the long history, principles and practices of this once well respected community organization.
Ireland has publicly stated the reason for membership denials is the board decided to cap the membership at 1,500. While this may be true, why is it that local citizens who applied for membership in December 2019 were denied? At the AGM held in November 2019 there were just over 600 members. Also there is no provision in the bylaws or Societies Act to control the number of members.
Another reason given by the president for membership denials is “malicious intent.” I wonder what evidence there is of that.
Along with new applicants, long time members have received denial letters. The society bylaws clearly state how a member can be terminated and it is not at the whim of the board. Unless their membership fees have lapsed more than 12 months, such decisions must be made by the membership.
After repeated attempts to access society records which any member is entitled to, I have been successful in obtaining a membership list. While not current (dated April 15, 2020) there are nearly 1,400 names on the list. It interesting to note that approximately half of these members are not living in Delta. Many reside in Chilliwack, Abbotsford, North Vancouver, West Vancouver and even Arizona.
These are just a few facts that may help Deltans be better informed. It is truly tragic this group of seven inexperienced individuals is making decisions not supported by our community and seem to be destroying such a valued community resource.
Sharon Farrish
