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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1993-03-17, Page 9TeVeffirs;Ithrl-Wins Fare still spotless, per- haps in anticipation that some day, these rooms will be used again. But it is highly unlikely for the function lin which they once served, is no longer necessary. An entir wing of the South Huron Hospital was once a place where hundreds of 'new lives came into this 'world. It was also a place where surgery was performed for many years. Babies are no longer delivered at this small ru- ral hospital and the last major surgery done in the operating room was in the late 1960's. . To many, the confines of a medical institution, no matter of what form or what size, are intimi- dating. The smell, the sounds and even some of 1*elllople who work ire the walls may seem frightening. The South Huron Hospital has gone through several changes in its 40 -year history. In 1979 a major addition was built to the original facility. Now, under the guidance of Administrator Don Currell, Chief of Staff Dr. Jerry Jadd and Larry Wein, Chairman of the Strategic Planning Committee, the local hospital is about to undergo a major transformation. In this four part series, the Time Advocate will look at he past, Times -Advocate, March 17,1993 Page 9 lillespiltal pkeveritnnd future of the South Huron Hospital and examine the proposed Huron District Health Council. - -i ruing back the South Huron medical years must begin with first mentioning the doctors who brought medicine to our fair com- munity. As long as there has been a Town of Exeter, there have been doctors. In his book, 'A History of Exet- er', author Joe Wooden notes the first doctor to come to Exeter was Dr. John Hyndman who moved to town and set up practice in 1857. He passed his practice onto his son, Dr. Hugh Hyndman. The senior Dr. Hyndman was soon joined by Dr. Winanns who opened his practice in 1863 and like Dr.-Hyndman, had a son, Dr. George E.A. Winanns who fol- lowed in his father's footsteps but never did practice medicine in Ex- eter. Being a member of a familyof doctors seemed, to continue over 125 years later as Dr. Linda Steele, a current Exeter physician, has a sister, Dr. Brenda Cloutier who practiced briefly in town. Dr. Wally •itartad-sithnsained Last montlrafter running irispractice for 38 years, is the son of a doctor. Another very .early doctor was Dr. Young Cowan who moved to Exeter in the early 1860's. No medical history of the Town of Exeter would be complete with- out mentioning, to some degree, Dr. Joseph Browning who claimed to be the oldest practicing doctor in Canada when he died in his 100th year in 1942. While the early doctors per- formed many duties, including sur- gery out of their own offices, the first efforts to build a modern hos- pital in Exeter came nearly five years after World War II. In 1949, the Exeter Lions Club began a movement to build a 25 - bed hospital and in that year, the South Huron Hospital Association was formed under Chairman Elmer Bell. "Hospitals weren't that thick 40 years in the makin, around the country and it wasn't a surprise we didn't have one," says Bell, an Exeter lawyer. Where: -build it? 91/Lch debate raged :in'Bxeter for several months about where the hospital should be erected. The original site was to be Riverview Park, but a petition bearing 550 cit- izens names cancelled that idea. "When we started out, the present location (at the corner of Huron and Carling) wasn't availa- ble," says Bell. The location was one which was aio become the site of the South Hu- . Iron Hospital. In fact, the new facili- ty would actually take in part of the gold Carling Estate. The former :home of pioneer Isaac Carling built in 1856, served South Huron :for..25 'years before being demolished -to give rise to a $500,000 addition in 1979. The ad- dition housed emergency, radiolo- m- (faboratory,:<pllysiaherapy and inistration facilities. But before the famous estate be- came available and was purchased for an estimated cost of S16,500, it was still felt by some, that, despite objections from local residents, the was the best spot for a hospi- tal. 'T'hat was the ortginal intention (the park) and that was the site cho- sen by the Lions Club. The archi- tect was very strong on the park," saysBell. A few years later, 1969 to be ex- act, just 16 years after the comple- tion of the South Huron Hospital, it seemed as though the architect was correc t. For on July 24, 1969, Exeter was hit with its biggest natural disaster when the.,town was submerged in water due to a huge flood. The hos- pital suffered perhaps the .worse amount of damage estimated .at nearly S100,000. l 1 9 Oa Built quickly In the spring of 1952, under the direction of building supervisor Helge Jenson, the project began wL by,January, 4953 it wascom- e en• son was given a special price ail he got it (materials) under a cer- stain amount," says Bell. The supervisor broke the con- struction down to minute detail, considered the assets of local labor, noted where money could be saved, how construction would be more economical and how the Carling house could be used at a saving. - Under Jenson's guidance, the hos- pital was built inside a year, despite the fact there were only 15 men on the job at most times during the construction. In the long run, the hospital was fairly inexpensive to build. Financing from the project came from local subscribers, the federal and provincial govemmerits, chari- table groups such as theAtkinson Foundation and the local munici- palities. "We built it for about $150,000, it was a lot cheaper than what peo- 11.111111111111111111111111.11110, Alma Largford and vara Arm- strong of the Hospital Auxiliary stand in front of portraits of past presidents. ple thought. For us to afford it was quite a mouthful," says Bell. ,Approximately 5,000 people vis- ited South Huron Hospital when it was opened for a two-day inspec- tion in January 1953. 4 Members of the Hospital Auxil- iary conducted tours of the facili- ties and visitors contributed over $1,100 in donations. An unexpected gift of $35,000 from Dr. James Bell of Hensall en- -=tabled the hospital to build a nurses' -resident in June, 1958. In the hospital's 30th Annual Re - sport, Elmer Bell stated, "we have nned the basement for bedrooms for .-the nurses aides to provide accom- modation we now have and that is :frowned upon in official quarters. He added that in any event, to compete with other hospitals for a scarce supply of nurses, "we shall have to provide comparable living accommodation." Jimmy Sharrow, the first baby to be born in the hospital, was chosen to cut the ribbon at the residences. In 1975, the residence was con- vened into a dentists office. Over the past 40 years, the South Huron Hospital has foregone many changes. Staff comes and goes, and so do the services it provides. No more baby deliveries Dr. Read delivered over 900 ba- bies and in a recent interview with the Times -Advocate, said,"it was al- most a baby a day at its peak." The busiest time was before RCAF Cen- tralia closed in 1967. The obstetrics unit at the hospital was closed five years ago for the simple reason that South Huron could not keep up with the demands made by the provir.cial government when it came to delivering babies. Dr. Bill Steciuk, Dr. Linda Steele and Dr. Mike Gans were three of the still active local doctors who de- livered babies in Exeter. "Basically, we decided that when one of us wanted to stop (deliver- ing) so would the other," said Dr. Steele of herself and Dr. Steciuk. She admits she enjoyed delivering babies very much but also said doc- tors didn't have a lot of choice to stop.. "'they (provincial government) brought in guidelines that said you had to, do a C-section in 15 min- utes.' But without a full-time surgeon on staff, that was impossible to do so as a result, the obstetrics unit closed and it has been just an empty space ever since. However, babies arc still born at South Huron Hospital bccausc sometimes, there just isn't enough time to get to London or Clinton. "When I first started here we had 350 deliveries a year," said the hos- pital's Director of Nursing, Audrey Pooley. "It was fantastic," she said with excitement. "We don't have obstetrics here any more but we have to be ready," said Pooley. Last Wednesday night a baby was 'born at the South Huron Hospital. A nurse at the local hospital for over 25 years who has risen from a floor nurse to supervisor and now Director of Nursing, Pooley was I also an operating room nurse. She said no major surgery has been done since about 1966 when Dr. Walden stopped coming from Clinton. Perhaps :Lerhaps the most important ser- vice a hospital, of any size can pro- vide is that of human resources. There is no better example of that than the Hospital Auxiliary. Started in 1952 under the direc- tion of president Mrs. Ken Johns, it has become a very important part of the hospital's past and continues to provide valuable services in the present and no doubt in the future aswell. "They (the auxiliary) were anx- ious to get a hospital going," said Vera Armstrong who is a past - president and now the secretary of the group. President Alma Langford said the auxiliary,participates a great deal in the operation of the hospital. "We're lucky here because were voting members on the board. We report at every meeting and report back to the auxiliary of what the board is doing," said Langford. The auxiliary has a long history which is preserved through minutes of meetings and pictures of the past. presidents which hang on the wall of the auxiliary room. "It's not called the Ladies Auxil- iary anymore because men arc wel- come," said Armstrong. The local auxiliary is a member Of the Ontario Hospital Auxiliary Association and the local chapter has a bursary for any high school hospital volunteer who plans on going into a medical career. "They have to establish a certain criteria," said Langford. Last year, the Auxiliary raised $33,000 for the South Huron Hos- pital through their annual Rum- mage Sale, Tag Day and proceeds from their gift slop which is open four hours a day. "The majority of the money this year went into the x-ray room," said Langford. On May 18, the South Huron Hospital Auxiliary will celebrate its 40th Anniversary with a Past President's Tea. All are welcome. The past of the South Iluron Hos- pital, to say the least, has been eventful. Additions here, changes there, the success, it seems, of the past 40 years, has been because of the community itsef. e • Next week: The present... Such Huron Hospital Association '------ HELP US PLAN FOR THE FUTURE OF S.H.H South Huron Hospital is planning for its future. Your answers to the survey questions below are important to us and will assist our Board of Directors in making sure our future services are consistent with the needs of our communities. Larry Wein, Char, Strategic Planning Committee South Huron presently provides the following services to your immunity: a- in-patient treatment for acute care and chronic care b. physiotherapy; speech pathology; dietetic counselling c. diagnostic labetatory; x-ray and ultrasound d. full 24 hoursemergency raven c. specialty clinics in.paediatrics, urology, orthopaedics and internal medicine 1. What services currently provided by S.H.H. do you consider to be the p1Q4 important? 2. What services currently provided by S.H.H. do you consider to be jgs1 important? 3. In your opinion, wbat are the kw major strengths and two major weaknesses of the Hos- pital? 4. What things could bo done toimprovc services at S.H.H.? 5. Are there any services that S.HJ1 docs not pr provide but should be provided? 6. Are there any comments you would like to snake about the future of S.H.H.? 7. About yourself: Age: Under 18 - 18-25 - 26-45 - 46-65 - 65-80 - 80► - Sex: Male or Female Residence: • please mail Of _deliver to; Strategic Planning Committee South Huron hospital Association 24 Moron Street West, Exeter, Ontario NOM,, 4