Latest news with #HopeAir
Hamilton Spectator
15 hours ago
- Health
- Hamilton Spectator
Hope Air connects ‘all the dots' to critical medical care
Desperate to get to a bigger centre for medical needs? Have you heard of Hope Air? Pilots and planes congregated on Manitoulin last week for the first leg of a fundraiser. The Gore Bay-Manitoulin Airport was busy with arrivals and refuelling as it hosted volunteers inbound for Hope Air Day in Sault Ste Marie. Somewhat smoky conditions, blowing in from Manitoba and northwestern Ontario, were shared by aircrews as they landed. Welcomed by airport manager Robert (Robby) Colwell, all were delighted with the new Gore Bay flight facilities. A luncheon and speeches mid-afternoon acknowledged the value of Hope Air. 'Hope Air takes the pressure off ... the worries of transportation,' said Colwell. 'Most Hope Air clients have medical needs of a serious nature. I have never seen a client who wasn't happy boarding an aircraft or returning. Hope Air makes their experience wonderful. I get to witness this in my job. 'The mission statement of Hope Air could not happen without places like this. Airports are a very important piece of infrastructure. We play a very important role. I like to think of Hope Air as the angels of the sky.' Jon Collins, chief development officer for Hope Air, had much to say from the podium. 'There were 46,000 travel arrangements last year,' Collins said. 'Donors and sponsors are essential to each story. We connect with people and communities. I've been with the organization coming up on four years. 'Today is part of a celebration of our volunteer pilots. They help people access care from places that may not have all the skilled medical services. With chronic pain or conditions, you can't wait. We have accommodation allowances, too. 'The tour is also about raising much-needed funds. Our Give Hope Wings tour will have a family-friendly event at the airport, then there is an evening at the Bushplane Heritage Museum.' Hope Air Day in Sault Ste Marie, and the tour is all about asking Ontarians to stand behind equitable access to healthcare. Kelly Chaytor from Manitoulin Transport said Manitoulin Transport likes to help everybody. 'As the donation coordinator, it is a full-time job,' Chaytor said. Hope Air Day moved on to Marathon, followed by Sioux Lookout and Red Lake, with the final destination in Winnipeg. Some pilots opted not to go the full route, acknowledging the growing need for hotel rooms for evacuees from the wildfires in other parts of Canada. Who are those who need Hope Air? 'My journey started with a fall,' shared Bonnie Stevens. With much damage to her vision and eye elements, she was struggling. 'It has been a three-year journey. My eyesight has been restored. At 75 years old, Hope Air has given me my life back. I can attest that it is an amazing organization.' Another recipient recounted her many flights south. A double organ transplant recipient, Dawn Young-Tolsma said what Hope Air delivers is a miracle. 'I have tomorrow,' Young-Tolsma said. 'There was kindness. I am alive. Hope Air can connect all the dots. It started for me in 2018, and I don't know how many times I flew with them. They knew I had to get to the London hospital rapidly, and then they brought me home, always.' Sylvio Roy and Lori Sweet are a flight team. Sweet looks after the radio on their 1976 Piper Arrow. 'I support my husband in this 110 per cent,' Lori said. Sylvio Roy is a Canadian Forces retired pilot and loves using his skills to support Hope Air missions. 'About 85 per cent of what Hope Air delivers is with commercial airlines, but what we do is offer greater reach and more convenience.' Ed Johnston, of Toronto, has spent a decade with the organization. 'We cultivated a community that cares,' he said. Blake and Darlene Gennoe are new. 'About a year. Then we heard about Hope Air. We are based out of North Bay,' said Darlene. 'Blake was looking for a hobby. This is valuable in a way other hobbies might not.' Edie Craddock's 1979 Piper Aztec is a twin prop with space. 'It is a workhorse. The triangle of Sudbury, Timmins, Kapuskasing and Hamilton is very doable from my home in the Muskokas. I've gone all the way to Hearst. It can carry several passengers and even a small wheelchair in the luggage store. 'Flying was on the bucket list for me. I knew about Hope Air for some time. We are all trying to pay it forward. I want to help people. We all do. It is a privilege to do what we do.' The Local Journalism Initiative is made possible through funding from the federal government. Bluesky: @ X: @SudburyStar Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
CTV News
3 days ago
- Health
- CTV News
Hope Air Day held in Sault Ste. Marie
Friday was Hope Air Day in Sault Ste. Marie, a day that provides education about the non-profit that helps people get health care they desperately need.
Hamilton Spectator
4 days ago
- Health
- Hamilton Spectator
Hope Air marks annual day celebrating impact of free flights for patients in need
Hope Air, a charity providing free travel for low-income Canadians needing medical care, is celebrating its annual Hope Air Day today with a virtual event on Facebook at 3 p.m. Pacific time. The event highlights the importance of equitable access to healthcare, especially for patients from rural and underserved communities who must travel long distances for essential medical treatment. Hope Air's senior digital marketing coordinator, Christine Stolte, shares that the charity arranged 32,497 travel arrangements in 2024 for 5,973 patients and caregivers, including 9,127 flights and 10,652 hotel nights in British Columbia. Northern B.C. alone accounted for 50 per cent of this patient travel. While the most popular routes in British Columbia included Prince George, Terrace, and Fort St. John to Vancouver, northern B.C.'s most frequently travelled routes were Smithers, Prince Rupert, and Fort Nelson to Vancouver. Seventy three per cent of all patients who used Hope Air had household incomes below $45,000. Eighty seven per cent of these patients had no other viable travel options. 'Rural health is only as strong as the connections we build between community and care. Hope Air bridges that gap for thousands of B.C. residents each year, making timely access to specialized treatments possible for people who need it most,' said Paul Adams, executive director of BC Rural Health Network. Stolte shares that since its founding in 1986, Hope Air has arranged more than 235,980 travel support for over 25,000 patients in about 640 communities across Canada. Today's event will feature stories from patients, volunteers, and supporters who help bridge the gap between home and hospital. It will also include a live concert by country music artist Cory Marks, streamed from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Apart from free flights, the charity provides accommodations, meal vouchers, and ground transportation to Canadians who otherwise cannot afford it. Individuals in need can visit their website to learn more about accessing the available resources. Watch the event: Hope Air Day on Facebook Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
CBC
4 days ago
- Health
- CBC
Hope Air Day in Sault St. Marie to raise awareness about medical charity
Social Sharing 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 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.
CTV News
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Cory Marks to play Hope Air Day concert
In celebration of Hope Air Day, a live concert will be held in the Sault at the Bushplane Museum, featuring country music artist Cory Marks. Marks sat down with Tony Ryma to talk about the event and the work Hope Air does.
