Langley Memorial Hospital is celebrating 75 years of service in this community. In a series of stories over the coming months, the Langley Advance Times, in conjunction with the hospital foundation, takes a look at the past, present, and future of health care in Langley from a few different perspectives.
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By Julie Coghlan-Smith/Special to Langley Advance Times
I loved it. I loved it. I never regretted being a nurse,” said Anne Doering, reflecting on her 36 years of working as a licensed-practitioner nurse, of which she spent 35 at Langley Memorial Hospital.
“My advice for young nurses: ‘always remember that patients are people, and everyone has a story’.”
Doering has a story too. She was born in the bounteous foothills of the Okanagan Highlands in north-central Washington, in a small town called Omak. When she was 10, her father bought land in Houston, B.C.
“We moved from the land of everything to the land of nothing,” said Doering. “Lots of snow and two frost-free months a year. The only thing we could farm was root vegetables.”
Doering remembers more than a few nights of going to bed hungry as a teenager.
Leaving the tiny town of Houston, she trained in Prince George and Dawson Creek, and did a 14-month stint in Burns Lake after graduation. In September 1967, she escaped to the milder climate of Langley, where she lived in the hospital’s staff residence until 1972.
“There were 19 residents living on two floors and a basement. We shared three toilets with squeaky doors that banged at night and two bathrooms with bathtubs,” she reminisced.
The cost of the staff residence, at $20 a month, was considered pricey by Doering. In Burns Lake, $20 got her room and board.
“The kitchen was a battle for space with one stove and one small fridge, and some nights I would opt for crackers and cheese rather than stand in line for the stove. But I loved the camaraderie, the banter among friends, and the activities.”
Doering was on staff when the hospital’s fourth floor opened in 1974, then the pediatric and medical ward. However, the most significant change for Doering, during her nursing career, was the introduction of ceiling lifts to help turn patients and get them in and out of bed.
“I was so grateful, especially when it came to heavier patients. The work was physically taxing,” she said, remembering waiting for the firemen to arrive and help the nurses get a fallen patient back into bed.
“Medications are more sophisticated today than in my day,” she added, “so the focus has changed.”
RELATED – Paramedic evolution: From ‘grab and go’ to high-tech lifesaving services
READ ALSO: Retired doctors and nurses help preserve medical history in Langley
MORE: Welcome to a health-care world 75 years in the making
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Langley Memorial Hospital Foundation fundraises throughout the year to support health-care workers and allow them to keep providing life-saving care. To this end, the foundation is preparing for its annual hospital gala. This year’s event, dubbed Hot Havana Nights, is being held Oct. 21 at the Coast Hotel & Convention Centre. It’s the 32nd year. Money raised will support the urgent need to expand cardiac care at the Langley Hospital. For info: https://lmhfoundation.com/events/gala
• And, for more LMH history check out this special publication.
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