Tribute honors group that fought to keep Petrolia hospital open

Surviving members of Charlotte’s Task Force — a group of residents who came together nearly 20 years ago to save Petrolia’s hospital — gathered there Wednesday for the unveiling of a tribute to their successful campaign.

Formed during a period of change and consolidation in local health care that put the future of the small hospital at risk, the 11-member group remained active for several years advocating on behalf of the Petrolia hospital and its services.

Wednesday, Charlotte Eleanor Englehart Hospital of Bluewater Health hosted the gathering where Rosanne Orcutt, chairperson of the task force, and Norm Sutherland, one of its members, unveiled the tribute hanging in a corridor at the site.

There were many times, all those years ago, when they wondered if their efforts would be rewarded, Orcutt said.

“But we just succeeded,” she said.

“It’s really a tribute to this small group of citizens who just decided that we weren’t accepting something. We were going to fight against it.”

They organized public meetings and local residents “attended in drove,” Orcutt said.

“Without their unwavering support, we might not have succeeded,” she said.

Other members of the task force included Carol Boyd, Ila Campbell, Dana Churchill, Leo Dupuis, Sylvia Fairbank, Mary-Pat Gleeson, Helen Havlik, Jim Monteith and Jane Stevenson.

Orcutt said the group decided “we would always be informed before we spoke, we would always be rational in discussion, we would be respectful of all, but we could be relentless in our quest to keep CEE Hospital of Bluewater Health open for the residents of Central Lambton.”

It worked, she said.

“You really did change the course of health-care history in our community,” she told the surviving members.

“A job well done, guys.”

Laurie Zimmer, Bluewater Health’s vice-president of clinical services and the lead for rural health, described the group as “a force of nature” in supporting the hospital and ensuring health care is provided in central Lambton County.

“They have had great insight, great connections with our community and have really been able to support sustainability for rural health,” she said.

They went to “great lengths to keep their hospital a vital part of the community, and continue to do so,” she said.

Zimmer said there are about 20,000 visits a year to the Petrolia hospital’s emergency department, a 10-bed in-patient unit, 18 complex care beds, as well as the Pat Mailloux Eye Center at the site.

“We wanted to honor all the great work that Roseanne and Charlotte’s Task Force has done over the years,” Zimmer said.

“We all here today have been so inspired by their unrelenting spirit and strong sense of community.”

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