Stevenson Memorial Hospital patients come from all over South Simcoe
New Tecumseth – Adjala-Tosorontio – Essa – Innisfil – Mulmur – Bradford West Gwillimbury – Barrie-Caledon
Sheryl Boucher
Sheryl Boucher, a vibrant 68-year-old from Angus Ontario, returned home on October 14, 2024, feeling unwell after attending her niece's wedding in Halifax. She had insisted on going, despite her husband's cold looming as she prepared to leave. The wedding was a joyous occasion, and the first day in Halifax was fine; however, by the wedding day, a cough began to develop, and it only worsened. Tired but determined, she endured through the reception but ultimately left early, hoping it was just a cold.
The next morning, despite her discomfort, Sheryl was grateful that her niece and her new husband were flying back with her to Ontario for their honeymoon. The flight turned out to be miserable, and upon returning home, Sheryl barely had time to say goodbye to her niece. “I got home, I barely got in the house, I didn’t even say goodbye to them…I changed my clothes, took a shower and barely made it to bed, and it started to hit me. I think my strength kept me going when I was travelling home, I just kept telling myself, ‘just get me home’.”
However, despite getting home and resting, her health only spiralled downward. "I just kept getting sicker and sicker," she recounted. Coughing incessantly, Sheryl found her condition deteriorating rapidly. The brain fog she experienced felt so severe that she couldn’t recall how long she had been home before it became necessary to call for help.
On a particularly overwhelming day, with her sons by her side, Sheryl broke down with exhaustion. “I told them to call 911. I told them I didn’t want anyone to drive me because I really thought I was going to die,” she explained, believing that only an ambulance could ensure she received the care she needed without incident.
When the paramedics arrived, she was running a high fever, and her journey at Stevenson Memorial Hospital began. Her treatment commenced in the emergency department until staff diagnosed her with COVID-19. The gravity of her condition led to her self-isolation.
Sheryl was given a large room to isolate in, and she soon learned her husband would be admitted for COVID-19 as well. Sheryl bantered with the medical staff, even laughing about the potential chaos of sharing a room with her husband: “When you find him a room, it better not be with me,” Sheryl joked. However, despite their well-established partnership of 50 years, fate had other plans, and they ended up sharing a room, leading to more light-hearted exchanges during a serious time.
Sheryl found solace in the nurses who remained patient and kind amid relentless demands. They managed to bring a sense of normalcy to her situation, sharing laughs and stories. "The staff started calling me Chatty Cathy because I talk a lot,” she laughed, revealing her way of coping with the long hours and isolation. Her playful spirit attracted the staff's attention, including a security guard she enjoyed talking to. "I can’t remember the security guard's name, but he was so muscular and tall…I was teasing him one night and said, you know, SWAT is on right now, you should go to LA and be on the show. We joked around and laughed, and every night he would come by and open the door a bit to poke his head in and ask how I was doing, and he would chat with me for a minute or two."
Their friendly banter uplifted her, as did the conversations she had with the nurses about their lives and cultures. "The nurses were great, when they’d come into the room and take blood, we would talk about other things, outside of being in the hospital and being sick, and that was comforting."
Despite her health situation, Sheryl took the time to appreciate her meals, surprising herself with the quality of the food and expressing her gratitude in the form of thank-you notes to the food service team. She learned that connecting with others could provide comfort and levity during challenging times.
Reflecting on her experience, Sheryl drew from her late mother’s wisdom: “If you don’t talk to people, it’s an awful lonely world.” Her time at Stevenson Memorial Hospital became a testament to the power of connection, compassion, and humour, even amidst the darkest of days. “Give everybody a smile, and they may give a smile back. You never know what people are going through.”
Diana Robinson
Diana was coming home from work on May 30, 2007 when she saw an accident on Highway 27 just up the road from her house. Her kids’ school bus was pulled over to the side of the road and traffic was stopped.
“I just knew that something really bad had happened. I got out of the car and started to run up the highway. Our eight-year-old son Owen had been hit by a car getting off the bus,” says Diana.
“It happened so fast,” recalls Diana. “There was a retired firefighter at the scene, two people trained in CPR had pulled over to help and an ambulance came from just down the street at the Fire Hall. Owen was rushed to Stevenson Memorial Hospital (SMH), where he was stabilized and sent by helicopter to SickKids. Owen sustained severe injuries that have required many years of rehabilitation therapy since.”
“Owen’s accident was over ten years ago, but I’ll never forget how amazing the staff at SMH was. They were so calm and clear, working to stabilize Owen. They saved his life. Without SMH’s life-saving intervention immediately after the accident Owen wouldn’t have survived.”
And Diana herself, as well as other members of the family, have also received excellent care at SMH.
“In 2016, I injured my ankle and was mostly immobile,” recalls Diana. “I developed a really bad pain in my leg. My physiotherapist thought it might be a blood clot and told me to go to the hospital right away.”
“When I got to SMH, they started me on blood thinners and an ultrasound showed that I had a large blood clot in my leg that went from my mid-calf to mid-thigh. Fortunately, I received the right care, at the right time, allowing me to make a full recovery. While I was being treated at SMH, one of the nurses remembered me from Owen’s accident and asked me if I was Owen’s mom. The fact that she remembered me almost ten years later was incredible. I just couldn’t believe it!”
Diana’s family is so grateful for the care they received they have been giving back to help others ever since.
Judy Reid
When asked how she feels about Stevenson Memorial Hospital, Judy Reid doesn’t hesitate. For her, it’s simple: without the care her husband received there during several medical events between 2010 and 2024, he might not be here today.
“In early December of 2010, Brian thought he had a cold, but the cough wasn’t going away and kept getting worse,” Judy recalls. “He just kept saying, ‘No, I have a cold, it’s just a bad cold, it will go away,’ but it kept getting worse. So, my daughter and I convinced him to go to the hospital and get checked out.”
At Stevenson, an X-ray was ordered. The doctor saw what appeared to be a typical cold, but he didn’t stop there.
“The doctor said that on the X-ray there was a shadow on his lung,” Judy recalled. “So, we did a CAT scan, and it was discovered he had lung cancer.”
Brian underwent surgery in April 2011. Because the cancer was caught early, no chemotherapy or radiation was needed.
“If your emergency doctor hadn’t been so on top of things, I would not have a husband,” Judy says. “When the doctor came out of the emergency room and told me he got it, I gave him a hug.”
Judy and Brian have been married for 34 years. “He is my best friend, my world, and my rock,” she says. They’ve lived in Alliston for three decades, raising their family and building strong roots in the community.
Brian lives with Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome, a rare heart condition that has required additional hospital visits over the years. One of the most serious came just a month after Brian’s lung surgery.
“He came home one day and wasn’t feeling well. We called our family doctor, and they told us to go to the hospital right away. Because he reacted to the surgery, his heart went nuts. Paramedics came and got him—he had no blood pressure.”
By the time Judy arrived at the hospital after leaving work, Brian was stable. But the experience was a difficult one.
“His heart rate was all over the place, and the nurse told him, ‘If we can’t get your heart to regulate, we’re going to have to stop your heart and start it again.’ She didn’t have to. She managed to get him back under control.”
More recently, in October 2024, Brian was in a car accident. He hit a tree stump at 80 km/h, cracking his sternum and fracturing a vertebra. He spent five days at Stevenson recovering.
“He’s determined—he didn’t want to be a burden. But everyone was so wonderful to him in the hospital,” Judy says. “I tell everyone how wonderful the doctor was at Stevenson. He received great care from all the staff.”
Now cancer-free for 14 years, Brian is back to work and doing well. His ongoing health needs related to his heart condition have brought him back to Stevenson a few times over the years, but Judy says they’ve always felt supported.
“It all started with that cough. If that doctor hadn’t been paying attention, if he hadn’t seen that shadow, if he hadn’t been so on top of his game, I wouldn’t have a husband.”
For Judy, Stevenson isn’t just the place where her husband received excellent care. It’s part of what makes Alliston home.
“This is our home, this is our community. We know a lot of our neighbours and we talk to everybody. Alliston has become more like a city, but there’s still a small-town feel… The unique thing about Stevenson is that it still has that. Even though it serves a much bigger area now, it still feels like a small-town hospital.”
Bob Sinclair
At 85 years old, Robert (Bob) Sinclair, a retired widower and avid golfer who lives in the community of Green Briar, has always enjoyed good health and an active lifestyle, until he suddenly fell ill last August.
“I had been participating in the Men’s Golfing Championship that day, and I just wasn’t feeling well,” recalls Bob. “I went home to lie down, thinking I was dehydrated, but I knew something was wrong.”
Later that night, Bob went to Stevenson Memorial Hospital (SMH) and was treated for dehydration and released, but his symptoms quickly became worse.
“The next day, when I woke up, I tried to stand up, and I fell. A friend drove me back to the hospital, and my vital signs were off. I was admitted, and over the next few days, my symptoms dramatically worsened. I was confused, my vision was blurry, I couldn’t walk anymore, and I was starting to become paralyzed on my left side. By Monday, a team of doctors was consulting on my case, trying to figure out what could be causing me to become so sick. One of my doctors suggested a spinal tap, suspecting that it might be a virus that was attacking my body.”
“When the spinal tap results came back, I was shocked to learn that I had West Nile Disease, a potentially deadly virus that can attack your central nervous system. I was one of three confirmed cases of people with West Nile in Simcoe County last summer.”
Diagnosed with a rare Neuromuscular Manifestation of West Nile Virus Infection, Bob spent the next four weeks at SMH, slowly regaining his strength and starting rehabilitation to help him learn to walk again. “Being in bed for four weeks, I lost 25lbs and a lot of muscle tone. I was paralyzed on my left side and I had nerve damage in my right arm and shoulder. The physiotherapists came to meet with me several times a week and Cindy in particular always brightened my day.”
After four weeks, Bob was transferred to Riverwood Retirement Home to continue physical rehabilitation and after many weeks of hard work, Bob was finally able to go back home to Green Briar, last November.
“I’m not one who likes the spotlight, but if my story can help someone else then I’m happy to share,” continues Bob. “I would never have thought that I could get West Nile disease. I’ve spent 60 years at a cottage in the Muskokas and I’ve never once had a problem with a mosquito. But I had no idea how much it could affect you.”
“Thankfully, I received exceptional care,” continues Bob, who has gone on to make a remarkable recovery and says he’s doing well today. “The staff at SMH did an excellent job. They really looked after me and they were so caring. They did everything they could to make sure I was comfortable.”
Today, not even a year later, Bob is back out on the golf course and busy travelling, grateful for the exceptional care he received.
Thank you for making incredible stories like Bob’s possible. Your support touches the lives of countless people like Bob in our community every year and helps us provide the very best care, close to home, for everyone who needs us.
Cecilie Beeswanger
Cecilie had an unforgettable experience at Stevenson Memorial Hospital (SMH) that left her incredibly grateful. From the moment she arrived, she was struck by the exceptional care and dedication of the entire staff at SMH.
Cecilie's journey at SMH began on a frightening night when she experienced a medical emergency at home. "It was September 21, around 10:15 pm I had just sat down in my living room and I experienced this blow, like an explosion in my chest,” she recounted. “I didn’t know what was happening, I couldn’t breathe. I looked at my husband and told him ‘9-1-1’, and he of course called the paramedics and they took me to the hospital," she said.
“After stabilizing me, the medical team discovered that I had a collapsed lung, and I was then transferred to a room where I met Dr. Ko. I underwent several X-rays, and since I lived nearby, Dr. Ko suggested that I could go home and return the following day,” Cecilie recounted.
After returning throughout the rest of the week for more X-rays, a discovery was made. “On Friday morning, during triage and following the X-rays, it became evident that my lung wasn't expanding as it should. I had to undergo a CT scan, which revealed a couple of tears on the upper part of the lung and I stayed at Stevenson for six days after that.”
Dr. Keshoofy and Dr. Ko, in particular, left a lasting impression on Cecilie with their thoroughness and kindness. "Dr. Keshoofy was very nice, professional and thorough - an excellent doctor, and Dr. Ko was the first person I remember meeting and he was absolutely amazing," she recalled.
Cecilie couldn't help but praise the entire staff, saying, "It didn’t matter what role they were in, everyone there was smiling, happy and doing great work. That includes the cleaning staff and the dietary staff delivering meals to patients. Everybody did an incredible job. Everyone was exceptional at Stevenson," she continued. "There were certain staff members I saw so often, they treated me like they were seeing an old friend."
As Cecilie reflected on her time at SMH, she couldn't help but feel immense gratitude for the exceptional level of care she had received. "I wish I could show all of Simcoe County how well this place runs, despite the challenges and conditions at the hospital. Some days the hallways are filled with sick people who you have no room for, but you make do. You put curtains up, you try to give patients their dignity and privacy, they’re not forgotten about and everyone gets taken care of, no matter how little room the hospital has," she expressed.
"The hallways were crammed with all kinds of equipment because they are just bursting at the seams, but none of the staff there were affected by it. They did their jobs and did them better than at any other hospital I’ve ever experienced," Cecilie remarked.
Reflecting on her time at Stevenson, Cecilie expressed, "It didn’t matter whose shift it was, [the staff] were all cut from the same cloth, which is very unusual. Typically, when you have revolving staff and shift changes, you’d expect to run into at least one person having a bad day, but nobody at Stevenson had a bad day. It didn’t matter if it was two in the morning or how busy it was, everyone was happy, kind, caring, and compassionate. I didn’t come across one cranky person. Not one."
Leaving the hospital, Cecilie was deeply moved by the kindness and support she had received. "On my last day at the hospital when I was leaving, every staff member I encountered, I wanted them to know how special they are, and how much I appreciated everything they did for me, their kindness and their patience," she said. “There were people who went out of their way on the day that I left, nurses who weren’t even on shift who came up to me and knew who I was and they were so happy for me. Everything about the entire hospital was so wonderful.”
“Nobody [at SMH] was there doing their job because they had to, they were there because they care about the patients and this community,” Cecilie said. “Every single staff member cared, and it was indescribable. The team at Stevenson Memorial needs to be recognized for how well-run the hospital is, and the care received. They go above and beyond."
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