HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2015-03-19, Page 6PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2015.
Hospital Auxiliary seeks members for April meeting
THE EDITOR,
You pass by a card table when you
enter the post office to check your
mail; the sparkle of a gleaming
bedpan may catch your eye and you
stop to buy a tag. When you visit an
ailing friend at the hospital, you drop
into the gift shop to pick up a
package of gum and a pink-smocked
woman takes your money. As you
wait in line at the grocery checkout,
you notice a poster asking if you are
interested in playing bridge, or
maybe euchre. In the coming events
section of the newspaper, you note
that the fall rummage sale is just
around the corner and jot down a
reminder on the calendar. By the
drugstore cash register, you notice a
picture of a beautiful handmade quilt
and you buy a couple of tickets on it.
Just before Christmas, you
accompany a friend to the poinsettia
tea, picking up a fruitcake at the
bake sale on your way to the Terrace
Room. In every case, you note the
involvement of the Auxiliary to the
Wingham and District Hospital.
Huh, what’s that all about?
There was no hospital in Huron
County, or in neighbouring Bruce
County, until 1898, when Dr. J.P.
Kennedy opened a four-bed facility
with an operating room in the upper
floor of the building where
Stainton’s Home Hardware is now.
It wasn’t long before this hospital
proved too small and in 1906, a
group of concerned citizens bought
the Webster residence on Carling
Terrace and converted it into a 22-
bed hospital.
In those days of smaller provincial
and federal governments, it was
largely left to the community to look
after its own needs and the Hospital
Auxiliary was formed to support the
hospital. Donations from various
estates and foundations supplied the
large equipment, but members of the
Auxiliary contributed much of the
furnishings, even the linoleum for
the stairs. The Auxiliary also took
on the responsibility for the bedding,
curtains, gowns and nursery items,
purchasing the material and sewing
up what was needed. With the first
addition to the hospital, the
Auxiliary bought several sewing
machines, some of them even
electric, and established a room in
the basement where up to 14 groups
of members took turns doing the
sewing and mending. This work
continued until 1962 when the
Ontario Hospital Commission took
charge of all supplies and the
Auxiliary was put out of the sewing
business.
But sewing hadn’t been the only
Auxiliary function. In 1955, in
recognition of its service to the
hospital, the Auxiliary was invited to
appoint a member of the Hospital
Board – a practice that is still in
place. In 1957, a cancer clinic was
organized in Wingham, the smallest
town in Ontario to have a clinic, and
its doctors and nurses were assisted
by auxiliary volunteers. In 1967, as a
Centennial project, auxiliary
member nurses started a branch of
the Candy Stripers, whereby
volunteers over the age of 16 helped
the busy nursing staff with patient
care.
For several years, volunteer
members travelled to the Ontario
Hospital in Goderich to assist with
therapy work, advised the
administration on the decoration of
the patients’ rooms, manned the
reception desk in emergency,
sponsored blood donor clinics,
welcomed the hospital’s first baby of
the year with a lovely present and
raised patient spirits with seasonal
tray favours.
Early in its history, the auxiliary
was asked by the Ontario Hospital
Commission to make fundraising
one of its primary goals in order to
provide hospital equipment not
supplied by the government. In
1936, members held their first
rummage sale, an event which has
been held twice a year ever since
(this year’s spring sale will be held
in the Legion on April 15-16) and
has raised thousands of dollars for
the auxiliary. Over the years, the
auxiliary also started an annual tag
day, weekly bridge (with euchre
added in 2010), used-book sales,
bake sales, and quilt raffles – all of
which are still being done today.
In the 1950s, the Auxiliary opened
a gift shop in a small room off the
main entrance of the hospital,
featuring handicrafts made by the
members. Today, the gift shop is still
open every weekday morning and
afternoon. Since its inventory has
expanded to include collectibles,
stuffed toys, jewellery, purses,
hospital scrubs and things like
combs and toothbrushes that may
have been forgotten by the newly-
admitted patient. When the current
hospital renovations are completed,
the gift shop will have a
substantially larger room in a more
visible location and will be able to
stock a wider selection of boutique
items.
These longtime fundraisers have
been supplemented by relatively
new ones like the annual poinsettia
tea and bake sale and the
sponsorship of the Wingham
Fashion Show.
Through its ventures, the
Auxiliary has raised a lot of money.
As a strong supporter of healthcare,
it provides an annual bursary of
$500 to an F.E. Madill Secondary
School graduate who is entering a
post-secondary program in health
services. The remainder of its funds
are used to supply the hospital with
equipment that is above and beyond
what provincial funding can cover.
Over its history spanning over a
century, the Auxiliary’s long list of
donations reads like a hospital-
supply catalogue, including
incubators, refrigerators, oxygen
tents, centrifuges, autoclaves,
whirlpool baths, aspirators,
defibrillators, microscopes,
ambulifts, specialized beds and
wheelchairs. You name it and the
auxiliary has probably donated it.
It’s come a long way from curtains,
smocks and bedding.
Within the last five years, the
auxiliary has donated a pressure-
relief mattress, a vital-signs monitor,
three oncology chairs and a cardiac
stretcher. Already this year the
auxiliary has provided the hospital
with a crash cart and with May tag
days just three months away, it has
set as its 2015 goal the purchase of
an emergency room stretcher.
With computerization, more paid
staff, government regulation and a
change in hospital services (the loss
of obstetrics, for example) the role
of the Auxiliary in the daily
functioning of the hospital has
diminished but its role as a
fundraiser has become crucial. All
of us appreciate having a well-
equipped hospital in the heart of our
community but with tight provincial
budgets, we need strong local
involvement and contribution to
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Proudly Serving Since 1996
INTERESTED IN DISCUSSING
END-OF-LIFE CARE
FOR HURON COUNTY?
Public Meeting
March 23 ~ 7:00-9:00 pm
Huron Perth Hospice Palliative Care Collaborative
invites you to attend a
Clinton Arena & Community Centre
129 Beech Street, Clinton
Mary Cardinal — Chair, Huron Perth Hospice Palliative Care Collaborative
Lisa Gardner — Hospice Palliative Care Lead, South West LHIN
Dr. Agnes Kruz — Physician at Seaforth Hospital, Palliative Care Champion
Judy White — Palliative Pain & Symptom Management Consultant Program
Kim Winbow and Shirley Dinsmore — Community Hospice Programs
Andy Werner — Residential Hospice Stratford Perth Steering Committee
SPEAKERS INCLUDE
Letter to the Editor
Building his masterpiece
It was prime snowman-building weather last week at North
Woods Elementary School as the school’s colour groups
held a spirit day that had been months in the making. The
groups made snowmen on the front lawn of the school and
while most took the group approach, Kayde Smith struck
out on his own for his creation. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
Continued on page 9