John Green spent 8 hours a day for 115 days on the palliative care floor of the West Parry Sound Health Centre, at the side of his wife of 54 years.

It was heartbreaking to watch his high school sweetheart leave him. 

John says the care that both Lynda and he received during those 115 days was exemplary.  The nurses were attentive to Lynda, he says, keeping her comfortable and making her room as homelike as possible.  John fondly recalls how one nurse brought in lilacs for Lynda’s room, brightening the spring days for his wife.  “The nurses never seem to stop moving, and yet even as busy as she was, that nurse took the time to think of Lynda and bring her that bouquet,” says John.  “We never felt forgotten or overlooked, we always felt like everyone on the floor knew who we were and cared for both of us.”

During his wife’s illness, and during his own health challenges over the years, John has been consistently grateful for Parry Sound hospital.  “The Emergency Department here saved my life when I had an aortic dissection, and I’ve been in the operating room here four times for different reasons. The healthcare team at this hospital is smart, fast and they work so well together.”

John and Lynda moved to Parry Sound after handing over the family business in Mississauga to their son, and John remembers when the hospital was built many years ago.  “To have a facility like this here is such a benefit,” he says.

To give back, John’s become a member of the Volunteer Auxiliary and now welcomes and guides people when they arrive at the hospital’s front door.  “I can’t imagine a better place to volunteer or to support with a donation.”