Hundreds gathered at MacDougall Hall on November 2 to celebrate the careers of four Valley doctors and the Ormstown Medical Centre.
Dr. Thomas Vandor, Dr. Vince Blonde, and Dr. John Hortop all retired from practicing medicine at the Ormstown Medical Centre (OMC) during the pandemic without a proper retirement party. Dr. Lech Krotecki worked his final days just last week, and it was decided to celebrate the careers of all four at once.
Visitors included former employees, hospital staff, nurses, family members, friends, and patients. Guests shared stories and memories while enjoying displays of old photos, memorabilia, and clippings that told the colourful history of the community’s medical centre.
The afternoon was advertised as a community send-off for the last generation of doctors to serve out of the OMC, but the event also served as an opportunity to remember all those who contributed to its 75-year history.
The medical centre was first located where the post office is now on Lambton Street. In 1950, Dr. Murray Stalker created a non-profit organization that led to the construction of a new medical centre next to the recently built Barrie Memorial Hospital. The hospital board donated the land but required that the OMC be attached with direct access to the hospital, allowing doctors to work in both institutions.
The agreement also stipulated that should the OMC close, the building would be returned to the hospital. The doctors were responsible for the construction of the centre as well as the management and operating costs. Over time, the OMC provided the laboratory and x-ray services at the Barrie and was involved in the addition of the Murray R. Stalker wing. The centre also became a central point of contact for McGill University’s outreach program to rural communities.
The non-profit was dissolved in 2021 with the creation of the new Medical Clinic in Ormstown, and the building was returned to the CISSS de la Montérégie-Ouest. (SR)