Editor: On July 14, a grand old lady turned 65. Perhaps not so old, but still grand. She’s had a few face lifts — a nip and tuck here and there — some things added and others removed. But she remains as dependable and as effective as she has always been.
Langley Memorial Hospital, conceived from a need, born from perseverance and hard work, and nurtured by dedicated professionals, still stands proudly at the top of Hospital Hill. She is a testament to the accomplishment of a few committed citizens who had a vision those many years ago. The people who gathered at the top of the hill in front of the new 35-bed cottage-style hospital that warm July day must have been ecstatic to see their long-awaited dream become reality.
That, of course, was only the beginning. It took people such as Dr. A.O. Rose, Dr. Chapin Key, Director of Nursing Marion Ward, Assistant Director Peggie Young, Head Nurse Iris Mooney, medical, nursing and technical staff, administrators and so many more, to bring competence and compassion to what would have otherwise been merely a building.
For 16 years, the cottage served the needs of the citizens of Langley, but no sooner were the first patients admitted on Sept. 1, 1948, than the building was judged inadequate. Renovations added more beds but the community was experiencing population growth.
Following years of negotiations with the B.C. government, a new building known today as the 1965 hospital received the go-ahead. Additions through the years have added beds and services, to bring the grand old lady up to the standard she enjoys today.
For almost 50 years, the affairs of LMH were governed by the Langley Memorial Hospital Society, made up of citizens from all walks of life. But on April 4, 1997, the health minister notified the hospital board that its services were no longer required, and LMH was ordered to amalgamate with three other area hospitals to form the South Fraser Health Region. Thus, the citizens of Langley lost control of their hospital, 48 years and nine months after the society received its charter.
A few months earlier, the LMH Heritage Committee, comprised of mostly retired staff — physicians, nurses, administrative and Auxiliary, along with a Langley historian — was formed to write the 50-year history of the institution. Four years in the making, the book Hospital on the Hill was released just months after the takeover by the FHA. It was the brainchild of administrative assistant Grace Carter, who could see that the cornerstones of LMH were being eroded, and its history lost.
In 2000, the committee, in co-operation with the Langley Heritage Society, both local councils and numerous Langley citizens, became active in trying to save the cottage hospital from demolition. Although the building was eventually torn down, the property was not turned into a parking lot as the FHA had planned, and the stone wall was saved to become a part of the new building. Memorial Cottage, a psychiatric unit, sits on the footprint of the original LMH and resembles it in appearance.
I encourage all newcomers to Langley, especially those employed at the hospital, to get a copy of the The Hospital on the Hill and read about the dedicated men and women who, through foresight, persistence and hard work made it possible for the grand old lady to celebrate her 65th birthday this month.
Doris Riedweg,
Langley
