Cloverdale murder victim Paul Bennett will soon be honoured permanently at Peace Arch Hospital, thanks to an anonymous donor.
Bennett, who was an operating-room nurse at the White Rock hospital, was shot and killed in the driveway of his Cloverdale home in June 2018 in what police later determined was a case of mistaken identity.
This week, the Peace Arch Hospital announced that, in conjunction with a multi-million dollar operating-room expansion that is under construction, an anonymous donation from a former patient of Bennett’s will be put towards a new staff area called the Paul Bennett Staff Lounge.
“Paul would be so humbled by this honour and surprised that he would be the focus of this kind of recognition,” his widow, Darlene, told Peace Arch News.
“Every patient he cared for truly mattered to him and this staff lounge is such a wonderful legacy for him, both as a nurse and as a friend, to his O.R. colleagues who he considered his family.”
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According to a spokesperson from the Peace Arch Hospital Foundation, the anonymous donor knew Bennett for many years and was once a surgical patient at the hospital, and “he was so comforted by his care and compassion.”
“The tragedy that befell the Bennett family really touched this particular donor, and they wanted to make a tribute in their own way to honour Paul’s memory going forward. For those that worked with Paul, we hope this recognition will have special meaning as well,” said Peace Arch Hospital Foundation executive director Stephanie Beck.
Recognition in the staff lounge will include a photo of Bennett, along with a description of his career and volunteerism at Peace Arch Hospital. The space is set to open this fall when Phase 1 of the expansion project is complete.
The $23.5-million expansion – of which $12 million was contributed by the foundation – will include five new operating rooms and AnteRooms.
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