The official opening of the redeveloped Wairau Hospital in Blenheim on Saturday felt more like a reunion as former staff gathered among officials to celebrate a new era for the 125-year-old hospital.
As former nurses and tutors Elaine Hadfield and Janette Steel inspected the new halls of the hospital, both were stopped, greeted and hugged at the opening by former co-workers and students, who shared a quick memory and a laugh.
Mrs Steel said staff and students formed a strong bond during their time at the hospital.
"No-one forgets anyone around here. That's the thing I value most."
Both said times and practices had changed since they began working at the hospital in the 1950s, and they were impressed with the redevelopment.
Ms Hadfield began her training in 1950 in wards that were more like long corridors with beds lined up along opposite walls, and had to wheel a screen to beds to give patients privacy.
Wards did not have separate patient rooms then, she said.
Mrs Steel saw a lot of development during her almost 30-year career at the hospital, including the construction of the recreation hall and a chapel.
She had a rapid introduction to hospital life in 1956 as her three-month preliminary nursing study was cut short when more nurses were needed in the wards during a polio outbreak. But she did not feel under-prepared and was always supervised.
Both said their work included duties quite different to what a nurse was expected to do today, including cleaning walls and delivering morning and afternoon tea to patients.
Mrs Steel said she was asked to become a tutor at the hospital after spending two years teaching at a nursing school in Fiji. She taught practical areas to nursing students, while Ms Hadfield took care of the theoretical side.
- The Marlborough Express
SIMON WONG
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