Sandra Jack lived her life with purpose. Caring is her legacy.

KIM COULTER RMH Foundation

KAWARTHA LAKES: Standing atop the CN Tower, on July 31st, 2021, Sandra Jack celebrated surviving cancer for five years, post-surgery. More than that, she was paying forward the care she was receiving and fundraising, to help more people survive cancer. Helping others was her lifelong mission.

Sandra touched lives through her career in education, her public service on municipal council, her advocacy on community committees, and her many passions. These passions formed a long list: travelling, camping, kayaking, dog shows, time with friends and family – and philanthropy.

Sandra believed in growing services at the Ross, to meet the community’s needs, and was a champion for municipal support for the hospital’s major expansion in 2002. The City of Kawartha Lakes was a significant contributor to the Caring For Tomorrow capital campaign, providing $7 million to double the size of the hospital, expanding the Emergency Department and adding new services, including: inpatient mental health care, rehabilitation and palliative care.

Upon learning the RMH Foundation was raising funds, to help the Ross implement a clinical information system in 2021, she stepped up once again.

“I believe patients, like their health care professionals, need access to their personal medical information, in order to be involved in making informed decisions about their own treatment. This has not always been easy to do,” Sandra wrote. “While patient-centred care has become the gold standard in medicine today, there are, unfortunately, remaining roadblocks which impede the ability of both patients and their health care teams to access medical information in a timely and holistic manner. This has the potential to negatively impact patient care.”

Sandra knew the real-time connections, enabled through the new clinical information system, would mitigate those problems. And she knew she could help.

Sandra took great care to write about her patient experience and the importance of having access to her electronic medical records, during her treatment. She also left a gift in her Will.

Steve Stewart described his cousin in her eulogy, following her death in July 2022. “I think most of all, she will be remembered for her big heart and constant outreach to others. A big part of her life was devoted to giving back, through volunteerism and other civic duties. She was not driven by ego or attention seeking, just a strong desire to help out and give back. She remained positive and optimistic right to the end.” Two months before her passing, she reached out to the RMH Foundation, to inquire about a hospital project she had read about. A lifelong learner, she worked hard to be well-informed. She was following the news, the elections, and life on the Scugog River. “I’m losing ground in my battle with cancer, but not ready to give up yet! Too much still to do!”

Sandra Jack put her whole heart into everything she did, and the work she put in continues to impact others today. Through her giving, her passion continues to make life better for people in the community she loved.