by Deb Lee, Heritage and CGH Commemoration Project
In early December 2024, we wrapped up the last of our info sessions about the history and our plans to tell the story of 108 years of the Calgary General Hospital (CGH). During our 12 sessions over the past year, we have met a wide range of people and learned a lot. Many attendees were past employees at the hospital. Staff from the Rehabilitation Department of the 1980s and 1990s came out in full force and shared memories about the meaningfulness of their work with patients, some of whom were in hospital for many months of therapy. A surgeon spoke about the innovations in vascular surgery techniques that resulted in better outcomes for patients. We met a nonagenarian (he is more than 90 years old!) who had been a construction worker on the 1953 building and who continued to work in the Maintenance Department until closure in 1997. He was quite emotional in thanking us for pursing this project to commemorate the hospital. We heard from staff who were the last to leave when the hospital closed in 1997 and how they wrote on the walls as a way of saying goodbye to the hospital. We are still seeking photos of those heartfelt messages.
Many participants shared that they or other family members had been born at “the General”, or that they had given birth to their children there. If only we could find out the total number of babies born there over the many years – it would probably be well over 100,000!
A former payroll department staffer reminded us that the hospital was part of the City and paycheques came from the City of Calgary. Graduates from the School of Nursing remembered their three years of hard work and study and their forays into Bridgeland to purchase pantyhose and go for walks in the neighbourhood. Participants who were newcomers to the city were incredulous that such a large hospital was imploded.
We heard suggestions from participants about different ways that we might tell the story of the CGH — with creativity and making use of digital technology so that the story is accessible to all, now and into the future. We’re pursuing these suggestions.
There were some consistent messages from all participants. The first was the culture of caring and collegiality that was present at “the General”. Our colleagues were all there to help patients and staff. People from various departments such as the maintenance, dietary, nursing, rehab, lab and X-ray, administration, and physicians all worked together for the benefit of their patients. This resulted in the atmosphere of friendliness and belonging that so many people fondly remembered.
The second message we heard repeatedly was praise and encouragement for our efforts to bring this commemoration project to fruition.
We want to thank everyone who attended one of our sessions and who shared their memories, perspectives, and suggestions on the Commemoration of the Calgary General Hospital. We have ended our presentations at the BRCA Community Centre but if you know of any group of ten people or more, we would be happy to come to you and share our presentation and discussion. We also have a new banner that enables us to share about the project at different events.
We are progressing with fundraising and are grateful for the donations (tax deductible) made by many individual donors. We set a goal for $100,000 from individuals and we are over 60% there. We continue with fundraising for larger amounts from different levels of government. Our most immediate focus is on funds that will enable us to do more, such as in-depth architectural plans and up-to-date costing for the project.
Stay tuned for more stories about ‘the General’ in the coming months. There is still lots to tell!
We are always happy to hear from you. To reach the Heritage and CGH Commemoration project please email us at [email protected].
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