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Home My WebLink AboutThe Brussels Post, 1973-06-13, Page 10THOMPSON and STEPHENSON MEAT MARKET Phone 8876 /94 FREE DELIVERY Piroart Maple Leaf Sweet . PICKLED COTTAGE ROLLS FRESH SIDE PORK TIREAKPASt :BACON lb, .89.0 lb, 750. lb. 990 i V 6 . 5rocA# YOUR LEMONADE rdld cotititty PISA and CHIPS- r 990 • • • • • pkg. 890 r A 4- Ir rr r Nurses are on call 24 hours each day VO N celebrates 75th Anniversary serving Huron Mrs. Jan Moore who is the only full time VON nurse on staff In Huron. She is responsible for that part of the county south of Walton and Blyth. She is assisted on a part time basis by Mrs. Louis Sloan of McKillop. Other part time nurses serve the Goderich, wingham and Brussels area. A native of London, Mrs. Moore lives in Sea- forth where her husband teaches history at 8.1D,H.S. EAU ';EL 'Obgt JUNit 13r' 173' Mrs. Moore operates out of an office in Clinton and the service the VON provides is on the basis of 24 hours a day, seven days a week. An answering service monitors calls and routes them to the appro- priate nurse. On the left are thefoUr VON nurses who 'Went to the Klondike in 1898, 'Mar- garet Payson, Rachel Hanna, Georgea Powell, and Amy Scott. The nurses of the Perth- arrived they found Mis's powell Hifron branch of the VON still go herself down with typhoid in her wherever they are need but they little tent beside the hospital. no longer slog their way on foot Her, bed was a postal sack filled through the bush with a mule with shavings, laid on boards. train. Lady Aberdeen,• wife of the VON nurses did just that, then Governor General of Canada however, when four of them were and the Victorian Order's first dispatched by the newly-formed President, had held an informal Victorian Order of Nurses for dinner at Government House in Canada to help cope with wide- Ottawa when the nurses left for spread disease and injuries the Klondike. Like the gold among the miners who swarmed rush itself, their service in the to the Yukon gold fields in Klondike was short-lived. The 1898. Order's Board of Governors de- Because they were attached to cided to wind up the operation a Canadian military expedition in 1899. In summing it up, the nurses took an all-Canadian Lady Aberdeen wrote of the four route through northern British nurses: "One of them had to Columbia (most of the miners leave owing to a serious oper- reached the Klondike through ation; one has been appointed American territory in Alaska). superintendent of a hospital at They were 14 days on the trail, Dawson with the consent of the averaging 11 miles a day., One Victorian Order; one has taken other woman accompanied the a position at the post office and party - Miss Faith Fenton, a the district superintendent, Miss reporter for the Toronto Globe. Powell, remains at work until the Miss C.4eorgea Powell, who spring allowS her lobe trans- headed the team of nurses, des- ferred to another post where her cribed her trip in graphic terms: services will be more reqUired "From mountain to swamp to bog in view of the great diminution we went, bogs into whose cold, of the population of Dawson". damp, mossy depths we would Miss Powell later retired and sink to our knees, and under was paid $250, in lieu of travel- which the nee still remains; ling expenses, as she decided to swamps where we trampled down remain in DawsOn City. The buShes and shrubs to make foot- VON'S "Klondike Expedition" was over, but 75 years of nurses for ourselveS, and. where the mules stuck many times, often lug service was just beginning, as many as 20 down all at once, Although the Perth-Huron sometimes having to betripa.Cked Branch of the VON is riot one to be taken out, our baggage of the original groups in Canada, dumped in the mud, and where it doeS go back qUite a way. The the Mosquitoes held high VON came. to Stratford in 1908. revelry". Word of the nurses' It was a one-nurse branch with journey spread quickly and many one nurse serving the community. sick and injured miners were Expansion took place as the needs brought considerable distanees to Of the various communities places where it was known, the arose. Mitchell was one of the party would camp: first areas involved. Then in ,As if the land journey were 1966 the communities Of St, not bad enough, the nursing team Marys, Sebritigville, shakes- hecartie separated in _a boat Wreck peare and Tavisteek dame under became one of the rivers: Miss the VON's service. By 1911, Powell was taken ahead to Dawson wh°11 the Home Care program was established in 8'eaforth, the where she at Once took charge Stratford VON branch was asked of the Good SaMaritan Hospital, as "matron,teacher, nurse and to extend its boundaries to maid of all work":- include Seaferth and the area Served by 'gea.fOilli Community Typhoid was at its height. Hospital including the townships The patients had in many cases of MeKillop, Hullet, TtiekerSinith walked as far as 12 111.11.08 froth in Huron County and, Hibbert their digginoin the broiling sun and 1Perth, Olintori`a.lso 4 twith their temperatures rang- ing from 10.1 to 104 degrees, of 1972 brought two new their strength often failing be- changes To t the VON_, The once fore reaching hospital'''. MISS One-nurse branch now became Powell found t hat Sickness wasn't three full--tittle nurses and at the the only problett, Filth arid' same tite, the all-inclusive vermin were everywhere and: it, name Perth=litiroti Branch of cost POW' dollars to have vox became a blanket washed. the sub office in Clinton, there are six part time nurses employed. Listowel, Wingham, Seaforth and Goderich now have a part time VON living in the community and serving the. surrounding area. Another new development in 1973 which involves the VON right across Canada, is the intro- duction f a new symbol; - "The VON in the Home". Today the Perth-Huron branch serves 1,954 square miles. In 1972 the branch made 2,945 visits to more than 515 patients. While nursing care in the patient's hoine is the core of the VON service, they are in- volved in many other activities. It provides the nursing service for the Home Care Program In both Perth and Huron. Assess- ments of the needs of patients for the Canadian Cancer Society are done and the most recent activity undertaken by the VON in the area. , is " the • paramedical examinations for insurance corno panieS. Looking to the future, Marg- aret Wood, the nurse in charge said she would like to see more done for the elderly, In.the area Of Perth-Huron there are numer- ous people in the 70's and up trying to maintain themselves at home. Many are lonely, unable to get out. The VON nurse is often one of the few people they see during a whole week, They need help in simple things, such as, shopping, running little errands, fixing some minor thing . in the house, or just someone to drop in and say "how are you?" Financially, the VON is sup- ported in various ways, such a.St ,-Fees paid directly by the patient or through a health scheme, such as Blue Cross, which cover nursing service. SerVide fees are also paid through the Home Care Progranti the Homemaker's & Ntitset Ser., Vices' Act and Department of Veterans AffairS. Grants come from VatiouS municipalities as well as the ootinty. Voluntary ititidS ate provided through the United Community Mind of Stratford. Care is never retuSed due to the persons inability to pal'', Either the VON.StriVeS to obtain assistance for the patient through One of the reeOgnited programs Or the nurse work, out with the Family, a fee per visit ,which they can afford to pay, in 1.012 only 11% of the total revenue of the Pettli.lttirOtt branch was received' through nursing fees paid by the patient, As well as the two, toll time When the three other nu nurses :gttatford and One iu kintzeIrmNr,P..to.MtNgallwagmri