Board of Directors

We are a dedicated volunteer-led foundation based in Tofino on the West Coast of Vancouver Island, committed to supporting Tofino General Hospital while championing the development of a new hospital to serve our growing region, including more than one million visitors each year.

Through focused fundraising and strong community partnerships, we fund essential equipment and critical capital improvements that strengthen the quality and resilience of healthcare in our coastal community, today and for the future. The encouragement and appreciation we receive from the community mean a great deal to us.

The Board of Directors are elected each year at the September Annual General Meeting.

2025/2026

Chair - Arlene McGinnis

Vice Chair - Rhonda Berry

Treasurer - Phyllis Banks

Secretary - Jen Dart

Directors - Shannon Chase, Susie Doré, Alex Gagne, Karen Grice, Marnie Helliwell, Stephanie Hughes, Judy Michaud, Brynne Sucharyna

Arlene McGinnis has called Tofino home since she was three. She remembers watching the original hospital burn in 1952, then watching the current hospital rise in its place. It opened in 1954 and served about 400 residents.

Today, Tofino has 2,500 year-round residents, a population that swells to 4,500 in summer, and welcomes over 750,000 visitors annually. The hospital is now a rapidly declining 72-year-old structure with just eight beds, a crumbling foundation, cramped spaces and limited services.

For Arlene, the case for a new Tofino hospital and improved healthcare services begins with a simple question: how much longer can a growing region depend on a hospital built for another era?

That lifelong passion and connection to community care is reflected in the spirit of our volunteers. From retired hospital staff to local business owners and community members, we share a vision for a new hospital that can serve Tofino, the surrounding communities, and the many visitors who rely on local healthcare.