Stories

As businesses and organizations across the globe closed their doors our Headwaters Heroes fought night and day to find solutions to keep our doors open and move mountains for our community.

Driving into work down empty highways for days, weeks and months without a break, our team stayed the course because we knew had to. There were people reliant on our care, who simply would not survive if our doors closed, people like Liz.

The necessity of health care does not stop– not even for a pandemic – it only becomes even more essential.

In Wave 1, care providers across the globe needed to think quickly and come up with creative solutions so that patients, families and caregivers had what they needed when they needed it.

With the onset of the third wave of the pandemic, our Headwaters Heroes were called upon once more to step up and support areas in our hospital in critical need.

Our team assembled additional patient beds to accept transfers from other overburdened hospitals in our region and we needed clinical and non-clinical team members to support those spaces.

At the age of 16 Kim began nursing at a Long-Term Care facility in Owen Sound. Her family made the move Orangeville in 1981 and she began working at Fountain View Retirement Home which eventually became Avalon Retirement Lodge.

On March 17, 2020, when COVID-19 was declared an emergency in the Province, our hospital mobilized quickly to ensure that anyone entering our building would be safe and protected. This meant limiting the access points to the hospital as well to two entrances. Screening desks and a whole process to manage the flow of people was set-up.

After graduating high school, Dawn went on to complete an Office Administration Legal Course. She worked in that field for a short time but soon found that it wasn’t her calling. She went back to school for Medical Office Administration.

9-1-1 dispatch received a call that an elderly woman may have had suffered a stroke at home; her daughter had returned home from work to check on her mother when she sounded delirious and confused on the phone.

Coleen graduated from Humber College in 1982 and was hired at Dufferin Area Hospital shortly thereafter.

Over the years Coleen has worked on the Surgical, Medical, Pediatrics, and Continuing Care Units until finally calling E-Wing home.

Each month we will share stories of team members at HHCC; their history with the hospital and the transformative work they do every day to strengthen our culture and community. This month we celebrate Patty, Pharmacy Technician.

Bev became a part of the Headwaters family in June 1994 as a part-time Registered Practical Nurse at the Shelburne District Hospital.

Early in her career Bev became very fond of a patient who eventually passed away in her care. This experience left a lasting impression on her and shaped her career as a nurse. To this day, 21 years later, she can tell you the patient’s name, diagnosis, children’s names and the patient’s room number. Bev continues to genuinely connect with each of her patients.