Back row: Carole Crump, Jillian Symonds, Dave Bessant, Bea Slack, Gail Parslow.
Front row: Anne Peace, Maureen Overy, Shirley Benson, Renate Lexmond.
Missing: Marla Gilliland, Ann Carter, Karen Larocque, Eleanor Whitlock, Doris Hallett.

History of the Brockville General
Volunteer Association

The Brockville General Volunteer Association has been known by different names over the past 120 years. Over that span of time, groups of hard-working dedicated volunteers have provided their time, energy and ingenuity to raise funds for Brockville General Hospital and provide assistance with patient comfort and care. Its history is so completely intertwined with the identity, culture and progress of the hospital as to be indistinguishable.  

In 1889 the Association began as the Women’s Auxiliary at the same time Brockville General Hospital moved to its current site. It seems to have had an earlier life as the Ladies’ Committee of Brockville General Hospital. The BGH Women’s Auxiliary was the fourth hospital auxiliary to be organized in Ontario. 

Brockville General Hospital began as the Brockville Free Medical Dispensary in 1881 in a double house on Church Street. In 1885 the decision was made that it should become a hospital, and the hospital corporation was formed on April 10, 1885. Up until that time, the Dispensary had given 1,711 treatments to 521 different patients, and there had been 25 inpatients. 

A brief history of the Dispensary published in the Recorder on March 6, 1885, pointed out that “the ladies of Brockville had been very kind in supplying material for bandages and dressings, clothing, sheets, blankets, quilts and other bedding.” This was undoubtedly the work of the Ladies’ Committee. 

The Ladies’ Committee held an Open House and Tea on March 6, 1889 to introduce the grand new hospital to the community. On June 18 of the same year, the committee held a meeting to plan the new organization, and on November 11, 1889 the constitution and new name were ratified, giving birth to the Women’s Auxiliary. The minutes of this meeting, and all meetings since then, are held in the Volunteer Association archives.

The new hospital had 25 beds by 1890, with living accommodations for the matron, nursing students and nursing staff. The building was almost immediately identified as too small, and a building fund was established to raise money for an addition. Auxiliary members immediately began canvassing for funds through a number of innovative activities. From 1885 to 1898, the Auxiliary actively raised funds to assist in paying off hospital debt.

This and the other fundraising activities of the Auxiliary became vital to the survival and growth of the hospital over the next hundred years; however, the Auxiliary did much more than just raising money for the hospital. Over the years, volunteers spent countless hours assisting patients and families in the hospital.

Some Milestones:

• 1901: Auxiliary holds the first Calico Ball, earning $178 for the Hospital. The Calico Ball was held annually until 1948 and was one of the main social events in Brockville.

• 1902: New BGH South Wing is built with $10,000 contribution from W.H. Comstock. The Auxiliary donates $1,000 to make possible a separate children’s ward.

• 1906: Auxiliary funds the building of a laundry at the hospital.

• 1910-12: Auxiliary publishes a cookbook and uses the proceeds to furnish the maternity ward.

• 1912-28: Auxiliary supplies funds to help furnish a new maternity ward and new nurses’ quarters, install up-to-date bathrooms, purchase a quartz lamp and diathermy machine, and assist the Board to pay off a $12,000 overdraft.

• 1929: Auxiliary has 275 annual members and 26 life members.

• 1932: Auxiliary provides all of the hospital linen as well as a new hot water boiler.

• 1935: Auxiliary gains the right to two voting representatives on the Hospital Board.

• 1955: The Wagon Shop opens. WAGON was an acronym for “Women’s Auxiliary Gifts Or Needs.”

• 1955-60: Wagon Shop total contributions to BGH since 1955 reach $100,000.

• 1968: Vi Raymond, President of the Women’s Auxiliary in 1959 and 1960, becomes the President of the Hospital Auxiliaries Association of Ontario, the provincial organization of hospital auxiliaries.

• 1974: The Women’s Auxiliary drops the word “Women’s” and becomes Brockville General Hospital Auxiliary.

• 1975: 22,368 hours are worked by 385 volunteers

• 1980: Wagon Shop celebrates its 25^th anniversary; total contributions to BGH since 1955 reach $256,174.

• 1982: Volunteers in the Joy Short Linen Room repair 10,554 articles of linen and 2,055 gowns.

• 1996: Some 347 Auxiliary members work 26,138 volunteer hours.

• 2000: To include the men and teens who worked as volunteers in the hospital, the Auxiliary changes its name to the Brockville General Volunteer Association.

• 2001: Brockville General Volunteer Association, already a Registered Charity, becomes incorporated.

• 2003: New addition to Brockville General Hospital opens, with a new Wagon Gift Shop, and Eleanor’s Café.

• 2004: The Volunteer Association celebrates 115 years of volunteering at BGH.

• 2006-07: In October 2006, St. Vincent de Paul Hospital merges with Brockville General Hospital. Some members of the St. Vincent de Paul Hospital Auxiliary join the BGVA, revitalizing and strengthening the already robust association. The Association now includes trained Palliative Care volunteers and Spiritual Care volunteers at the Garden Street site.

•  2008: $20,000 is donated to the planned Cardiovascular Program for the purchase of equipment.

•  2009: The Brockville General Volunteer Association celebrates 120 years of volunteering at BGH. A second donation of $20,000 is made to the Cardiovascular Program.

References: This history was researched by Charlie Boyle, former Secretary to the Brockville General Hospital Board, from the Minutes of the Brockville General Hospital Auxiliary.

If you are interested in volunteering at Brockville General Hospital or have any questions about the Volunteer Association, please contact:

Christine Deault,
Volunteer Coordinator,
Phone: 613-345-5645 extension 1254
Email:  bghvolunteer@bgh-on.ca