BY TAMARA BELKOV
Since the Memorial Hospital admitted its first patient 50 years
ago, staff and volunteers have worked side-by-side helping
patients and their families.
On Wednesday night the staff of the Sudbury Regional
Hospital (SRH) said thanks to the volunteers by hosting its
annual Volunteer Appreciation Dinner for the 640 volunteers who
worked a total of 7,200 hours last year.
"We really value all our volunteers," Yvonne Cayer
says. Cayer is the co-ordinator of volunteer services for
the SRH.
Cayer adds a special thanks to Bill and Ailsa Newton of
Sudbury, who have volunteered for the past 50 years.
Bill Newton was a young boy in the mid-1940s when he first
became a volunteer for the Memorial Hospital.
"The hospital wasn't even built yet," Newton says. "Mrs.
Humphrey lived down the street from me and you never said no to
her. We handed out flyers and sold little paper (lapel) tags to
raise money for the hospital. We'd not have had the hospital
without her."
Newton became the manager and partner at Robert Brown
Jewelers in Sudbury and was instrumental in starting up the
auxiliary gift shop at the Memorial.
His wife, Ailsa, has served as president of the volunteer
association's board of directors. She is a registered nurse,
and in 1956 she trained nursing assistants for the Department
of Health.
While the Newtons are still active in the SRH volunteer association, Newton has retired from the gift shop, but Ailsa still does her regular shift on Saturdays.
