Members of the community came out in force on Tuesday to celebrate Queen Victoria Hospital’s 100-year history of making a difference in Revelstoke.
The hospital is, as speakers ranging from Mayor David Raven, former mayor and retired physician Geoff Battersby, IHA Chairman Norman Embree and MLA Norm Macdonald noted, a deeply rooted institution.
Building the hospital’s was a signal that Revelstoke saw itself as an important urban center in the Interior. For a while it was even one of BC’s major cities. That self-image has evaporated but the people of Revelstoke still take pride in the fact that they have a hospital and a thriving medical community.
“Buildings are just buildings,” Embree said. “It takes a lot of technicians and other staff to make it run and they have served you well over the years.”
Macdonald noted the special connection between local people and their hospital saying,”…it really belongs to the people of Revelstoke.”
That important link dates back more than a century to the very first hospital. It was a wooden building and was replaced in 1913 by a brick hospital that served the community until the present structure was built in Arrow Heights in 1970.
Revelstoke Museum Curator Cathy English gave an excellent talk and slide-show presentation about the hospital and and the many nurses and doctors who have tended the community over the years.
You can view a few images from the party as well as Cathy’s entire slide show:
There was quite a crowd at Queen Victoria Hospital for its 100th birthday party, which featured a great cake, music and a slide show of historical photos, narrated by Revelstoke Museum Curator Cathy English. You can view the slide show in its entirety at the bottom of this page. David F. Rooney photoJudy Vigue and Sharon Soules dressed up for the QVH Centennial in their original nurses uniforms from 1963. Judy graduated from the nurses training unit at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops and Sharon graduated from the Royal Columbian in New Westminster. David F. Rooney photo
Mayor David Raven talks with MLA Norm Macdonald at the 100th birthday party held for Queen Victoria Hospital on Tuesday afternoon. David F. Rooney photoQueen Victoria Hospital has a new piece of art that honours donors to the Revelstoke District Health Foundation. This four-piece mural was designed by Ken Talbot (left) and Cat Mather (not present). It was unveiled after the hospital’s 100th birthday party on Tuesday. Present in this photo are Nelli Richardson, Margaret Zilonka, Maura Seyl, Jean Takkinen and Julie Lowes, Interior Health’s site manager at QVH. The ceramic trees on the mountainscape represent the size of the donations made by individuals. The large trees are for donations of $5,000 or more; the mid-side trees are for donations between $1,000 and $5,000 in size; and the small trees represent donations between $500 and $1,000. The Foundation and the Ladies Auxiliary are major donors to the hospital and have helped it acquire a lot of new technology and other equipment over the years. David F. Rooney photo
