Hope Air Day in Sault St. Marie to raise awareness about medical charity

CBC

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The national Hope Air organization is marking Hope Air Day in Sault Ste. Marie on Friday, to raise awareness about the medical service that it provides to people who need to travel for health reasons.
The charity offers free travel and accommodations for low income patients who need medical care, but can't afford or access that care close to home.
CEO Mark Rubinstein said Hope Air has been "bridging the distance between home and hospital for thousands of families in need."
"Low income families, even with the Northern Health Travel Grant, can't afford the significant airline costs, hotel costs, ground transportation costs, that can be thousands and thousands of dollars for patients who are travelling multiple times throughout the year, and that's the gap that Hope Air fills," Rubinstein told CBC News.
"Over the last 12 months we would have supported well over 1,100 medical trips and that includes flights, hotels, meals and ground transportation. That actually works out to be over 3,600 travel arrangements when you take the sum of all of those program supports that supports people living in over 85 communities across Ontario including Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, Timmins, Red Lake and North Bay."
We're really unable to meet the unmet demand where so many more people would avail themselves of Hope Air services.​​​​
Rubinstein said the charity is funded through a hybrid model of public and private sector funding.
"In almost every province across the country, we would receive some government funding and then that would be supplemented by generous donors, corporations, individuals, foundations.
"And it's the combination of those two funding sources that allows us to make sure that everyone who needs help travelling north-south, no matter which province you're talking about, can receive that help."
In Ontario Hope Air is primarily funded through private sector donations, receiving no direct government funding, Rubinstein said.
"Because of that, we're really unable to meet the unmet demand where so many more people would avail themselves of Hope Air services if there was secure funding made available to allow us to support them," he said.
The Hope Air CEO said with appropriate funding the charity would be able to go from 3,600 travel arrangements to well over 8,000, adding that "the reason why we have not been able to really promote the service and make as many people aware of the service who should know about it is because our funding is limited."
"Our government acknowledges the unique healthcare challenges faced by residents in northern and rural communities. That is why Ontario is one of the only jurisdictions to provide residents in the Northern parts of the province with reimbursement for costs incurred when having to travel outside of their community for specialized medical care.
Conversations ongoing to work with Hope Air, province says
A spokesperson for Health Minister Sylvia Jones said the ministry has been in contact with Hope Air.
"Our conversations and work with Hope Air are not over and we will continue to work together on a path forward that will ensure all Ontarians can access the care they need when they need it, no matter where they live," press secretary Ema Popovic wrote in an email to CBC News.
Popovic said through the Northern Health Travel Grant (NHTG) the government supports more than 66,000 people each year to access the specialized care they need.
"Last year, we announced we are investing an additional $45 million in the NHTG to expand and improve services, such as increasing reimbursement amounts and simplifying the application and submission form," Popovic said.
"The NHTG program also partners with several third-party agencies, including Hope Air, that can advance funds to northern Ontarians eligible for funding under the NHTG."
'A load of stress off families'
Becca Pariseau's son, Max, was diagnosed with hearing loss at birth and was a candidate for cochlear implants, which had to be done in Toronto.
Pariseau is from Saulte Ste. Marie and said she heard about Hope Air through SickKids Hospital, Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children.
"It was amazing for me. I didn't know there was anything like that until we needed to use it," she said.
"It's amazing what they can do to help families, because for us it would have been very hard financially to travel back and forth and so them helping with the flights and also hotel accommodations, food vouchers, Uber vouchers, everything is just so helpful and takes such a load of stress off families to be able to have that support.
"I'd love to thank them and just say that I appreciate everything that they do for us and other families, and I'm very grateful to them for all the help we've been given and that we still need in the future because we'll be taking trips still every six months until [Max is] older," Pariseau added.
Ed Johnston was getting ready to retire when he first learned about Hope Air at an aviation event held at Buttonville Municipal Airport.
"I joined the organization, like, the following week and became a volunteer pilot a few months later," Johnston told CBC Sudbury.
He said Hope Air provides travel access through airports where the major airlines don't fly, adding "it's a pretty cool thing."
"I've been to some pretty northern remote airports," Johnston said, adding that the real reason he's volunteering is "to help other people."
"So, when I heard about Hope Air and what they're doing for patients, it was kind of a natural thing just to step up to the plate and want to help," he said.
"I'm passionate about aviation and I'm passionate about using aviation for the greater good...Hope Air has given me inspiration, I love the organization, I love the people at the organization, wonderful people to work with. They've given me a mission, something to do with my time … and it's just about helping others," Johnston added.
Johnston, who has flown approximately 11 flights so far, said his youngest passenger was a one-month-old with her mom and grandma on board. His oldest was an 86-year-old who flew to Toronto for a shoulder replacement.