by Deb Lee, Heritage Committee and Calgary General Hospital (CGH) Project
The Calgary General Hospital provided health care in our community from 1910 to 1998. Food services was certainly a key part of its mandate over those 88 years.
When the hospital opened in Bridgeland in 1910, twenty people were employed in the kitchen (up from two at CGH #2). The kitchen itself was built on the top (fifth) floor and while this location may have made sense to the architect, it came with practical challenges. Modern gas stoves were set up along a long wall but ended up collecting dust and grease. This occasionally resulted in a flash fire that had to be doused with sand, conveniently kept in a nearby bucket. Delivery of basic food ingredients went up the single elevator. All foods were prepared and then delivered in bulk to the wards below.
The food was kept warm in coal-fired ovens until served up to the patients by the staff nurses. If the one and only elevator was not working, it meant that hauling of food and coal had to be done via the stairway. During the years of the “Great Depression”, staff planted vegetables in the fertile land to the south of the hospital. Many pounds of potatoes and other basics were harvested for use in the hospital’s kitchen over the coming winter.
Over the years, the Food Services department evolved to meet the expectations of the times, with a major but practical move to the lower level of the CGH #4 when it opened in the 1950s. Improved understanding of the dietary needs of different disease conditions led to many “special diets”, all adding to the complexity of food preparation processes.
“The General” was highly regarded for the high calibre of the food they served. Their delicious food was not only for the patients, but also available to staff and visitors as well as locals, who were encouraged to come to the hospital cafeteria for a meal.
I had the opportunity to speak with Carol and Linda, who were staff members in the Dietary Department during the 1970s and 80s. They agree that those were the glory days of food services in the hospital. Most of the food was freshly prepared onsite by skilled cooks, including local Joe Barbaro. Staff enjoyed their jobs, going to great lengths to ensure that the patients got the healthy food that they required. Mini kitchens were stocked on each ward to allow staff to provide nutritious snacks outside meal hours.
Morale was good in the hospital kitchen and more than one budding romance was ignited, say Carol and Linda, recalling the unnamed butcher and the baker! After work, staff teams played baseball on the nearby ball diamonds and afterward enjoyed a beer at the community centre “watering hole”. There was a strong sense of belonging at “The General”, both within and beyond the hospital walls.
Uniforms were colour-coded by service group within the hospital, Dietary staff wore turquoise. Staff had access to bolts of cloth and patterns and could make their own trousers, tunics etc.
Carol and Linda’s reminiscences shifted to some of the popular items produced from the General Hospital kitchens – spaghetti pie, cheeseburger pie, tuna noodle casserole… and the lemon slice was a real winner.
Times have changed. “The General” is gone and the topic of “hospital food” rarely evokes a positive comment. But the amazing food at the Calgary General Hospital lives on in the memories of those who were there.
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Contact us at [email protected] if you have a memory about the General Hospital to share or if you’d like to learn more about the Calgary General Hospital Commemoration project.
Picture of the old hospital and garden area, from the Glenrose archives.
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