Stewart Memorial Health Centre: A History

1974 was a year of upheaval for  Stewart Memorial Health Centre.  In May of that year, the nursing staff quit en masse and the hospital was closed until September.  The community was deeply divided and a public meeting at Ellerslie Consolidated Elementary School in November attracted over 600 people who voted on a board motion of confidence.

Ellerslie School principal Allan Graham was asked by the Stewart Memorial Health Centre's board to write the history of the hospital from its beginnings in 1949.  They wanted area residents to be reminded of what they had achieved together.  It remains the only published history of Stewart Memorial.

Now that changes to the services offered at Stewart Memorial Hospital have been announced by the government, it is a good time to revisit this history.  Allan Graham went on to publish many books of fiction and non-fiction and was awarded the Order of Prince Edward Island in 2002.  He has kindly granted permission to the SMH Auxiliary to scan this important document and it is now available here for people to read or download.

In his introduction to the book, Mr. Graham wrote of the vital role the hospital had played in the lives of thousands of residents.  His words are certainly just as true today:

Every institution which deals with the public is going to have its ups and downs and Stewart Memorial is no exception.  Each time it has recovered as healthy or healthier than before.  Each time the people of these twenty-two school districts have seen fit to stand behind their hospital and the Board they elected to run it.  Each time this cooperative effort has brought the hospital back to life again when it has become temporarily dormant.  1974 has seen another such crisis in the life of Stewart Memorial and probably the most potentially-damaging one so far but I am confident that the people of the founding districts will get together and forget the divisions of the present, look to the future and bring the Stewart Memorial Health Centre back as strong as ever.

Allan Graham, Bideford, October 12, 1974