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CTV News
15-05-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Former nursing students reunite in Kitchener, Ont. more than 50 years after graduation
Former students of St. Mary's Hospital nursing program reunited on May 15, 2025. (Right image: Courtesy Billie Hilborn, Left image: Ashley Bacon/CTV News) More than five decades after graduation, former students of St. Mary's School of Nursing returned to their old stomping ground to retread the paths that led them to who they are today. '[It's] bringing back memories that some of us have forgotten,' graduate Fren Faw, who travelled from British Columbia, said Thursday. 'We have this common bond. It's special and we are grateful.' Nursing students St. Mary's Hospital Kitchener, Ont. An undated photo of nursing students at the former St. Mary's Hospital in Kitchener, Ont. (Courtesy: Billie Hilborn) The 1970 class gathered once more at the Kitchener, Ont. hospital, formerly known as St. Mary's General Hospital and now called Waterloo Regional Health Network (WRHN) @ Queen's. A nursing program was only available for a few years, but those who took part in the opportunity forged life-long friendships. 'Sneaking out after curfew, a lot of tears, a lot of celebrations,' Jeanette Bomhof recalled. 'A lot of engagements in our third year, a few marriages in our third year, which we really weren't supposed to do, but we got approval from our director, Sister Virginia. There are a lot of things that will remain as secrets forever.' Nursing reunion St. Mary's Hospital Kitchener, Ont. Former students of the nursing program at St. Mary's Hospital in Kitchener, Ont. reunited on May 15, 2025. (Ashley Bacon, CTV News) Looking around at the building now, Bomhof was taken aback. 'I can't believe I'm in the same building,' she marvelled. 'It's changed so much from the time that we were here as students.' 'It's surreal. It's very different,' Faw said. 'It's not like what we had. We were in little rooms.' For some, like Billie Hilborn who began her nursing journey at 18-years-old, the choice to enrol shaped their lives. 'We had a two-plus-one program. We did all the bookwork in the first two years and then in our residence, or in our last year, we worked. We were called nurse interns and we were paid $300 a month and lived out of residence.' Billie Hilborn nurse St. Mary's Hospital Kitchener, Ont. An undated black and white photo of Billie Hilborn. (Courtesy: Billie Hilborn) Hilborn, now 77, is still working in nursing. 'I graduated in October with my PhD in nursing in the inaugural PhD nursing class at York University in Toronto,' she explained. Thursday's meeting was not the first reunion for the group. They try to get together every five years. Their next reunion is in 2023 will mark their 60th get together.
CBC
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
It's a bird! It's a plane! Superhero police rappel down side of Kitchener hospital to surprise children
Members of the Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) brought some joy to children in hospital by rappelling from the roof of the cancer centre at the Waterloo Regional Health Network, formerly known as the Grand River Hospital in Kitchener. It's the first time WRPS took part in the National Superhero Day festivities. CBC's Aastha Shetty dropped by to see it for herself.
