UPPER NAPPAN, N.S. - Bruce Saunders remembers Christmas mornings being delayed while his father attended to emergencies at the former Highland View Regional Hospital.
Saunders was on hand early Thursday when his father, the late Dr. George Saunders, and mother, retired nurse Emily Saunders, were honoured by the Cumberland Health Care Foundation with the naming of a new gazebo in the courtyard of the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre in their honour.
“As a family, we moved here in 1953 and grew up and went to school here. Mom and dad loved this community and since this new hospital was built we thought this would be the best way to recognize mom and dad for their years of service to the hospital and the community,” Saunders said. “I can remember as a child many times waiting until the middle of the afternoon on Christmas Day to open our presents because dad was at the hospital,” he said. “Mom and dad went many years without a vacation. Today, you wouldn’t have a prayer trying to recruit a doctor under those circumstances.”
Saunders said his father sometimes worked 70 to 90 hours a week. He was the only surgeon at the former Highland View Regional Hospital for six years and was on call around the clock.
Foundation chair Katherine Hatheway said the gazebo and quarter-mile walking track compliment a memorial garden completed in 2015 by the Benjamin family in memory of their son, Bryce.
“The family envisioned a place that would be colourful, happy and reflect the strong man that Bryce was,” Hatheway said. “The Benjamins told us they would be pleased if others shared their vision of the garden and expanded on it. Because of their kindness we are here today opening a new area for all to enjoy.”
Two years ago, the foundation worked with NSCC students to survey hospital staff and users on what they felt would be essential to improving physical and mental health at the hospital. The most common request was for a safe place to walk and exercise.
“When we heard this we began to notice that staff, visitors and even patients were trying to walk around the parking lot, along the highway and across the uneven grassy areas around the hospital,” she said. “Clearly not safe or practical for anyone, especially those using canes, walkers or wheelchairs.”
Hatheway said the hospital has more than 500 employees, who work 12-hour shifts and find it difficult to leave the property, while each day more than 500 people visit the hospital for appointments and procedures, to visit loved ones or to volunteer. And then there are the patients.
“For all the people the walking track and garden area will encourage a moderate level of activity and improved quality of life,” Hatheway said. “The area will encourage social interaction and provide a space for visitors and staff to seek solitude and a change of scenery to alleviate stress.”
As foundation chair, Hatheway thanked Peter Casey and Casey Concrete Ltd., Fundy Landscaping Services and Peter Michels, hospital maintenance staff, R&D McLean Contracting, the Dr. and Mrs. H.E. Christie Foundation, hospital gardener Nomran Hunter, the Saunders family, the Municipality of Cumberland and the Town of Amherst as well as the Nova Scotia Health Authority for their support of the project.
There are also new benches and trees in the Bryce Benjamin Memorial Garden that are memorial tributes to Bruce Belyea, Lynda and Phillip Burke, Skip and Shirley Walsh and Jenna Ceretti.
There is also a garden stone in memory of Sharon Porter.
Twitter: @ADNdarrell