After 120 years, the volunteer organization supporting Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay has decided to dissolve.
During a special meeting at the hospital on Thursday (April 11), members of the Ross Memorial Hospital Auxiliary voted unanimously in favour of dissolving the organization.
The hospital will take on the responsibility of providing administrative support for its volunteers.
At Thursday’s meeting, auxiliary president Anne Botond shared some of the challenges that precipitated the decision to dissolve.
Those included the 2019 dissolution of the Hospital Auxiliaries Association of Ontario (HAAO), which was founded in 1910 and provided guidance and professional advice to hospital auxiliaries across the province. HHAO decided to dissolve due to the rapidly declining number of hospital auxiliaries in Ontario. Other hospital auxiliaries that have recently disbanded include those for the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Walkerton Hospital, and West Parry Sound Health Centre.
For 2022-23, the Ross Memorial Hospital Auxiliary created a new board structure with responsibilities for each role on the board in the attempt to attract candidates with talents and professional expertise that could benefit the auxiliary, but those efforts were unsuccessful.
The Ross Memorial Hospital Auxiliary was formed in 1904 as the Ladies’ Auxiliary, reflecting the fact that the volunteers at the hospital were all women. By 1953, the auxiliary had 100 members and changed its name to the Women’s Hospital Auxiliary (“Women’s” was dropped in 1972), with membership rising to 340 members — including 19 men — by 1993.
Over the 120-year history of the auxiliary, members have made and donated items to the hospital, collected donations from the community, and helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for hospital equipment.
Today, the auxiliary has around 125 volunteers who operate the hospital’s Reflection’s Café and Gift Shop, the information desk at the main entrance, and support patient care and family members throughout the hospital. They also bestow a bursary to hospital team members to support advanced educational opportunities named in honour of former longtime volunteer Pat Angiers.
Despite the dissolution of the auxiliary, volunteers will maintain all those roles, with the hospital itself providing the administrative assistance required to support continued volunteering at the hospital.
“Volunteers are an integral part of the Ross family,” said Kelly Isfan, president and CEO of Ross Memorial Hospital. “We are proud of our storied auxiliary history and feel the best way to celebrate it is to provide the necessary support and resources required for the continuation of a robust volunteer program at our hospital. Volunteers will remain embedded in the exceptional care our community relies on.”
“This change in governance structure will alleviate administrative pressures and allow volunteers to focus on the part of the role they’re most passionate about: supporting patients and families, team members, and helping raise funds to purchase equipment our hospital and community needs,” Botond said. “The board looks forward to a seamless transition that facilitates continued volunteer engagement.”
