November 5, 2025

Pilot Funding from the James A. Burton & Family Foundation Helps St. Joe’s Reach Patients Living with Substance Use

Seeking medical care can be daunting for someone living with substance use. They may fear their dependency will be exposed, or that they’ll face stigma and judgement from others. Hospital admission can be especially frightening, since it may impede access to the substance they rely on and trigger painful withdrawal. These very real and rational concerns often stop people with addiction from seeking care for medical issues, ranging from the everyday to the life-threatening.

To help ensure equal access to care, St. Joe’s launched a pilot project pairing peer support workers with patients living with substance use, guiding them through the healthcare system as they seek treatment. In addition to $4.3 million in grant funding from Health Canada to help kickstart the program, The James A. Burton and Family Foundation supported the pilot project with a $150,000 donation.

A peer support worker understands what it feels like to walk into a hospital worried about being judged. They can stand alongside the patient, making sure their voice is heard, and that stigma or shame doesn’t get in the way of care. They can also share practical information about harm reduction and substance use, offering support if and when the patient is ready to consider making changes.

Kathryn Burton collaborated with Dr. Timothy O’Shea and Dr. Robin Lennox, co-heads of St. Joe’s Substance Use Service, and with Marcie McIlveen, the program’s first peer support supervisor, on how the gift could help create a program that met an urgent need in our community.

“We wanted to help build a solid foundation for a service in our community that offers comfort, compassion, and equitable access to health care for people living with substance use,” said Kathryn. “We believe in the impact this program is making. People who experience addiction are our sons, daughters, friends, and colleagues. They deserve the same access to care as anyone else in our community.”

“With peer support, it’s important to build trust with people about their health care,” says McIlveen, who is also the program director for the Hamilton Social Medicine Response Team (HAMSMaRT). “We’re not here to judge or tell them what they should or shouldn’t do. We’re here to listen and provide support while making sure that they’re getting seen for their overall health care.”

Philanthropy often sparks the change that communities need. We are grateful to The James A. Burton and Family Foundation for their investment and advocacy in creating a compassionate model of care for people living with substance use in our community.