The Truro Hospital Auxiliary was formed in 1922 resulting from a request made by the Mayor of the day as the result of financial needs in operating the hospital. The request prompted a meeting of the Ladies of Truro and the very first meeting resulted in the formation of the Hospital Auxiliary. It may come as a surprise to many but that first Auxiliary was made up of both men and women all dedicated to the cause of making the hospital the very best it could be for the Community. If that sounds familiar that is because the same basic principles for Auxiliary support of the Hospital rings true today some ninety five years later.

That group proved to be true leaders in the Community and their first commitment was to clean hospital linens and buy much needed new ones that came from their own pockets in those times. Not content to simply do maintenance as they called it then this group had their eye on the bigger picture which was a new hospital for Truro and area. They quickly set about their work and within four years the raised the funds and a new hospital was built on the land they purchased on Willow Street. The cost of that new Hospital built in 1926 was how much you say? That hospital was built for $4000, when today you would be fortunate to buy a main entrance door for that price.

At this point in time about 1926 one of the Ladies on the Auxiliary of the day decided that she felt it was no longer necessary to have men serve on the Auxiliary and a vote was taken and out went the men hats and all. That explains how the Auxiliary became known as the Ladies Hospital Auxiliary. But cheer us on men, we managed to line up behind retired RBC Bank Manager AL Keilty and worked our way back in the Auxiliary door about ten years ago. We didn’t care that they needed us for the heavy lifting we just cared that after about seventy years they finally realized they needed us! The Auxiliary today is known as the Colchester Hospital Auxiliary, has ten good me in house and are always on the hunt for more.

The Auxiliary has been progressive and through their never ending care for the Community they have managed to make substantial commitment to our local hospitals. This was highly recognized when the Auxiliary raised $700,000 for the new Colchester East Hants Community Health Centre and were the first to donate to the new MRI machine with their donation of $100,000.

Though the Auxiliary is lower In numbers than the past and the ages have crept up there a bit, the work ethic has not changed nor has the love of Community which is what drives this highly energised group of men and women. They are so proud of what they do and we are so proud of them. That combination has allowed and encouraged them to “look after” our Community for over ninety five years. Our ninety year old active volunteer Bunny Patterson who celebrated her birthday in April says that will never change and challenges anyone to come on Board and enjoy the greatest group of people supporting the greatest group of people anywhere.

That is about us and that is what we are and what we do.