Nearly 100 staff showed up to the Coronet Hotel ballroom to share stories and memories from their time together at the Holy Family Hospital. (Nick Nielsen)

By Nick Nielsen

Holy Family Hospital

Former staff of Holy Family Hospital gather to celebrate its legacy

Sep 13, 2024 | 10:12 AM

The Holy Family Hospital was closed down in 1997 and demolished in 2008, but the memories created in that building are still alive and well.

Thursday afternoon, nearly 100 former staff members from the hospital met for a luncheon to share memories and enjoy the musical stylings of local singer-songerwriter Donny Parenteau.

In attendance and blessing the meal was former executive director of the hospital Romeo Paulhus. He said its great to see the spirit of pride still alive and well in the former staff of the hospital for the work they did there.

“What I’m experiencing today, after 32 years since I left here, is that that spirit of Holy Family is very much alive and well and it resides with the people who worked there, and it’s still here today and it’s so great to be able to visit with these people and to reminisce and to remember their major contribution that they made to this community in the care of people who needed hospital care, and so it’s great.”

The Holy Family Hospital in 1997. (P.A. Historical Society/Facebook)

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Originally, the hospital was run by the Sisters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception, the first English-speaking congregation of sisters to be founded in Canada, as an orphanage in 1910 before a physician asked if they would open up as a hospital instead. The Sisters had a strong presence in the hospital until it closed in 1997.

The folks that worked at the hospital still have memories of the values instilled there, and Paulhus said that is what made the hospital such an amazing place to be.

“I think about the compassion and the dedication that these people, all of them and from all departments, not only from the nursing positions, but also people who in the service areas of dietary and housekeeping and maintenance, and those things, and the physicians that also worked here, they were, they were gems of people that were very dedicated to this service.”

Former hospital executive director Romeo Paulhus shares his blessings before the meal. (Nick Nielsen)

The building itself was one that the staff of the hospital took pride in with spotless marble floors and linen closets that were always fully stocked with over 150 beds at its largest capacity. While the building itself was a marvel for its time, it was the people inside that made the building so special.

“It was a very nice place. I’m actually very sad that it no longer exists as a building, but the building is one thing, but the people that served in that building is really what gave Holy Family the spirit that it has. Yeah, it’s unfortunate. There’s some major changes happening and continue to happen in healthcare, not necessarily for the better, but I think back about all of the dedications that was there, and I see it. Those people are still dedicated today that I talked to a lady today who is still involved in providing health services to the community after many, many years.”

“There wasn’t as much fundraising in the earlier days as what there is today, but we had some good benefactors that contributed voluntarily. We did have some very good gatherings with the staff and they enjoyed that because they celebrated themselves for their service to the community.”

The Holy Family Hospital in 1972. (P.A. Historical Society/Facebook)

As part of Donny Parenteau’s performance, one of the former staff members of the hospital provided him lyrics about the hospital, and Parenteau spent time creating the melodies to the lyrics for a song titled ‘It All Began With Care’.

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com