Orangeville, ON, May 31, 2010 – Shelburne and area residents will have the opportunity to honour their local hospital’s history at an open house Thursday, June 3^rd from 3:00-6:00pm, with guest speakers at 4:30pm. Staff, former staff and the public will have the opportunity to remember the past and sign a memory banner.

“As the Shelburne site moves its inpatient services to Headwaters Orangeville site, it is important to acknowledge the contributions and emotional attachment the staff, public and the hospital Auxiliary feel towards it [Shelburne hospital],” said Margot Hornseth, chair of Headwaters Health Care Centre’s board of directors.

Complex continuing care patients are now being admitted to Headwaters Orangeville site and the hospital will relocate all remaining patients from Shelburne to Orangeville on June 8, 2010.

The hospital’s diagnostic imaging x-ray office, hospital laundry department, diabetes and speech therapy services will continue to operate out of Shelburne hospital. X-ray patients can book an appointment for Shelburne site by calling 519.941.2410 ext. 2211 or walk-in from 1-4pm, Monday to Friday. Diabetes and Speech Therapy patients will continue to be seen by appointment.

Shelburne’s history dates back to 1950 when the Dufferin Federation of Agriculture established a committee to determine the feasibility of establishing a hospital in the town. Members were charged $10 each and the funds went towards setting up the hospital. In July 1950, the Brett house, a large two-storey brick house on Third Avenue in Shelburne was purchased for $12,000 and was set-up to receive patients.

The hospital was designated the Shelburne District Co-operative Nursing Centre with its first patient admitted in December 1950. At the time of its opening the nursing centre could accommodate 14 patients. It had a main ward room of six beds, an operating room, two bed surgical suite, a maternity and labour room and a delivery room on the first floor. On the second floor there was a three bed children’s ward, a nursery for newborns, a single private room, and living quarters for the nursing staff. 

The nursing centre was funded by the community through donations and by the payment of a daily fee - $5.50 for the main ward, $10 for use of the delivery room and $10 for an operation. In 1954, the board applied to the Ontario Department of Health requesting that the nursing centre be recognized as a public hospital. With provincial approval, in August 1954 the name was changed to Shelburne District Hospital. For the first time the hospital received $2,000 in financial support from the province. Equipment continued to be purchased through generous community support from individuals and service clubs.

Over the years the hospital grew to meet the community’s demands with the opening of a 30-bed hospital in 1962, and continued to evolve as health care needs changed. By June 1992, the Shelburne District Hospital board had voted to close the emergency department and change to an ambulatory centre providing family-centred care on an outpatient clinic basis. Inpatient care shifted to focus on long-term care and rehabilitation.

On January 1, 1993, Dufferin Area Hospital and Shelburne District Hospital became the first two rural hospitals to voluntarily amalgamate and became the Dufferin-Caledon Health Care Corporation with one board and medical staff, and programs and services consolidated between the two sites.

“Shelburne and area residents will continue to receive patient-centred, compassionate care at Headwaters Orangeville site, in many cases by the same staff members from Shelburne site,” says Hornseth.  The benefit to patients and staff will be access to diagnostic imaging, onsite laboratory, Respiratory Therapists, surgery and the Emergency Department. The hospital will officially welcome former Shelburne staff members at a BBQ for staff, volunteers and physicians on June 22, 2010 at Headwaters Orangeville site.

The public is invited to provide comments and suggestions about hospital services. Please contact Cholly Boland, President and CEO, Headwaters Health Care Centre at 519-941-2702 ext. 2200.

About Headwaters Health Care Centre
Headwaters Health Care Centre serves more than 110,000 residents in Caledon, Orangeville, Shelburne and Dufferin County. Headwaters’ operates an 87 bed acute care hospital. Visit www.headwatershealth.ca.

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