On behalf of the Community Medical Clinic Society of Bowen Island, I would like to express our gratitude and admiration to two members of our board who recently stepped down at our AGM.
Bud Massender (our local pharmacist) was one of the founding members of our “group” before we became a board and, without his tenacity, we would not have accomplished very much of anything, given how busy we all were and are. But Bud applied for non-profit status, worked on our goals and objectives, chaired countless meetings and never gave up on his dream to build a health centre on Bowen.
When many of us on the board got distracted with other duties and obligations, Bud made sure we were meeting regularly to build on the work that was already done. Our first visit to the clinic on Gabriola Island in 2013 inspired many of us to create an equally amazing amenity on Bowen and Bud continued to remind us of what their small community accomplished. Bud is busy with some major life changes but will continue to be one of our most important cheerleaders for improved medical services on Bowen.
Jaye Routledge came into Caring Circle one day to see if there was any way she could offer her extensive expertise in the health sector. Initially she worked on the Caring Circle board, helping us in particular with our organizational structure. She then extended her offers of support to the Medical Clinic Board (our future health centre!). In a very short period of time and perhaps to Jaye’s surprise, she took charge of much of the organizational work around the medical clinic board. She organized meetings, developed the agendas, and was at every meeting encouraging us to get things done. Her new and very demanding job in North Vancouver with the Division of Family Practice has taken her away from health advocacy work on Bowen, but she will always be in the background, offering her support where she can.
Without these two community activists, we would not have achieved as much as we have in gathering information about health needs on Bowen. They were both instrumental in developing the health survey that we hope you are all working on this summer to inform our work around building a health centre. (http://fluidsurveys.com/s/Bowen-health/)
The board and the community would like to thank you both for keeping this dream alive.
Colleen O’Neil
Board Member at Large
Community Medical Clinic Society of Bowen Island
Bruce Wallace, Paul Stratford, Susan Howe, Maureen Mackey, Gail Eyssen, Tim Rhodes, Dr. Sue Schloegl
