About Bur Oak Hospice
A hospice started by nurses and families in St. Vital in 2001, and run since then on one belief: the last part of life deserves a home.
The story
Twenty-five years, told by the years that changed something.
- 2001
- Six palliative nurses and four families who had cared for someone at home form Bur Oak Hospice Inc., named for the tree on the lot they hope to buy.
- 2006
- Bur Oak House opens on Kingston Row with six rooms, after five years of fundraising.
- 2011
- Bur Oak at Home begins, with one nurse and a borrowed car.
- 2014
- Grief programs open to anyone in Winnipeg, not only the families of residents.
- 2016
- Four rooms are added on the garden side, bringing the house to ten.
- 2022
- The spring flood reaches the lower garden.
- 2023
- The garden is rebuilt on higher ground, with a path to the river that stays dry.
In 2025
- 170
- residents cared for at the house
- 19 days
- average stay
- 1,140
- home visits by Bur Oak at Home
- 380
- people in grief programs
- 165
- active volunteers
- $1.62 million
- raised in gifts and events
- 60 per cent
- of the cost of the house covered by public funding
- 11 per cent
- spent on fundraising and administration
People
Reach any of us through the front desk at 204-555-0142.
Dana Kowalchuk
Executive Director
hello@buroakhospice.ca
Renée Beaulieu, RN
Director of Care
care@buroakhospice.ca
Tomas Reyes, RN
Bur Oak at Home team lead
care@buroakhospice.ca
Anita Bhattacharya, MSW
Grief Support Coordinator
grief@buroakhospice.ca
Jasmine Flett
Volunteer Coordinator
volunteer@buroakhospice.ca
Owen Sandhu
Director of Development
give@buroakhospice.ca
Board
Dr. Helen Nakamura
Chair. Retired palliative physician.
Marc Lavallée
Treasurer. Chartered professional accountant.
Priya Chandran
Director. Former family member and After group graduate.
Gordon Bear
Director. Elder and community advisor.
Ellen Friesen
Director. Retired nurse and founding member.
Sam Okafor
Director. Lawyer, estates and wills.
Louise Tremblay
Director. Volunteer since 2008.
Reports
The 2025 annual report and audited financial statements are available by email. Write to hello@buroakhospice.ca and we will send both the same day.
The land
Bur Oak House stands on Treaty 1 territory, the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dene peoples, and the homeland of the Métis Nation.
The bur oak the house is named for was here before the street. We try to run the house in a way that honours the land it stands on and the people who have cared for it far longer than we have.