For some, Dr. Diane Poilly is a very recognizable and constant face at Hospice, and her reputation for being humble and down to earth in her approach ensures her focus is always on her patients.

As the Medical Director at Carefor Hospice Cornwall. Dr. Poilly works with the medical team to help ensure comfort and dignity in people’s final days. While she has a passion for palliative care, it wasn’t where her career began.

After completing medical school at the Université de Sherbrooke and a family medicine residency at McGill University, she built an extensive career in emergency and critical care. Her work included intensive care, rural emergency medicine, and serving Cree communities in Northern Quebec before settling in Cornwall in 1999.

For 18 years, Dr. Poilly worked full-time in emergency departments at Glengarry Memorial Hospital and Cornwall Community Hospital. 2017 was when she made a significant career shift into palliative care, a field she says brings greater meaning to her work.

Drawing on her emergency medicine background, Dr. Poilly helps patients with complex illnesses manage symptoms and maintain comfort and dignity. Hospice care differs from curative treatment by focusing on quality of life rather than curing disease. It relies heavily on clinical expertise, careful assessment, and meaningful conversations with patients and families to understand their goals and needs.

Dr. Poilly is particularly drawn to the patient-centered nature of hospice care, where listening, observation, and clinical judgment are essential. Through her work at Carefor Hospice Cornwall, she helps ensure people receive compassionate, expert care during some of life’s most challenging moments.

We are so fortunate to have Dr. Poilly and all the physicians and staff at Hospice who help our clients end their journey with comfort and dignity.