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Assiniboine to hold ◦ reunionby F. A. ROSSERNOW HEAR THIS: If you at any time had a connection with Assiniboine Hospital, then get that wax out of your ears and listen every so carefully. That institution is having a reunion. The date is Oct. 4, 1980. There’s going to be a social affair, then a dinner, then a dance at the Ukrainian Reading Hall on Assiniboine Avenue.It wasn’t easy for me to get together with the organizers, Mrs. Denbow and Mrs. McCabe, for I was out of town when they first called. But they used that time to full advantage, for between them they put together a brief history of a noteworthy facility which in its time has been through more changes than a new baby.I told those ladies that I would attempt to highlight the Assiniboine story, and here goes:The original edition was on Richmond Avenue, and it was operated by the Disabled Veterans Association. In 1947 it was taken over by Indian Affairs, and became the Brandon Sanatorium for Tuberculosis. Most of the patients at that time were natives. Dr. A. H. Povah was chief medical director, and assisting him were Dr. W. Shahariw and the late Dr. Coghlin. Director of nursing was the late Mrs. Irene Cruikshank. This team met with great success, and by 1958 the number of patients was dwindling.Some of those patients went through a dreadful cultural shock. Laura Delamater, a former patient who later ran the lab, remembers adult Eskimos arriving, unble to speak a word of English. She recalls as well an elderly Chippewyan woman arriving in her native costume, pipe in mouth, bread tucked under arm, speaking a language not understood by any other local person.In the late ’50s, the hospital changed its name to Assiniboine. Mrs. Denbow and Mrs. McCabe were completely unanimous on one point: a powerful force in training ward aides and orderlies in the techniques for caring for patients was the late Mrs. I. Cruikshank. As the ladies put in their notes: “Under her capable hands we were all moulded into one large family . . . this feeling still holds true for all of us today whenever we meet. We were all saddened by her passing in 1968”.A development in 1958 started the Assiniboine on its way to becoming an extended care hospital. A physiotherapy unit was added. The role of the “lab” became of increased importance. Section heads at that time were Miss Laura Delamater in charge of the lab, with Mrs. Elsie Denbow in charge of linens and housekeeping, Mrs. A. Dinsdale as head seamstress. My history-writing ladies say that a major part of the success of the Assiniboine Hospita was that engineers, maintenance crews, nurses, doctors and housekeepers all worked together with only one single goal: to serve the patients.If you want to hear some more information on the reunion, then you have certainly got lots of opportunity: just contact Elsie Denbow 728-9451, Mrs. McCabe 728-2161, Andy Dinsdale 728—3793, Winifred Field70C; Q7Q1
Newspaper Details
Brandon Sun
Brandon, Manitoba, CA
Tue, Sep 16, 1980
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Kenneth J.
NA, NA 08 Feb 2024
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