NDG hospital praised as “beacon of healing, resilience, and community spirit.”
Shahaida West has dedicated a remarkable 45 years of her life to the Catherine Booth Hospital—nearly half as long as the beloved landmark has served as a community cornerstone in west-end Montreal.
Like many employees, Ms. West describes her current and former colleagues as family. So it was only natural to join them in September to celebrate the hospital’s centennial: For many, it was as much a family reunion as a historic milestone.
“Most of my friends are from here, and now I get to see them all again,” said Ms. West, a kitchen employee who started working at the hospital as a teenager. “This is a place where everybody knows everyone’s name.
“I’ve been here so long, and it still feels like a family.”
Shahaida West, kitchen employee
“The Booth,” as it is fondly called, has a more discreet profile than some better-known healthcare sites in CIUSSS West-Central Montreal. Yet the institution, which began as a maternity centre and now serves as a rehabilitation hospital, has been a steadfast pillar of care for generations of Montreal families.
“The Booth has been consistently adapting to the needs of the population—silently and quietly—for 100 years,” says Sharon O’Grady, Rehabilitation Nursing Coordinator at Catherine Booth and an organizer of the centenary celebration. “Now, it’s time to shout it from the rooftops.”
The Catherine Booth was established by the Salvation Army as a rescue home for women in the Plateau Mont Royal in 1890, named for the woman who co-founded the Salvation Army with husband William Booth. The hospital opened its current premises on Walkley Avenue in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce in 1925 and expanded in 1964 as needs continued to grow. The site was converted to a rehabilitation hospital in 1973 and now operates within the CIUSSS’s Rehabilitation and Multidisciplinary Services Directorate.
Speaking at the celebration, CIUSSS President and CEO Dr. Lawrence Rosenberg praised to the hospital and its employees.
“For 100 years, Catherine-Booth has stood as a beacon of healing, resilience, and community spirit.”
CIUSSS President and CEO Dr. Lawrence Rosenberg
“In celebrating this centennial, we pay tribute to the vision of its founders, the dedication of its staff, and the countless lives transformed by its mission of care,” Dr. Rosenberg said. “And today, we extend that tribute to the dedication and excellence of our current staff.”
Many current and former employees also spoke of their deep connection to the institution. Joe Gribbon has been on the maintenance staff at Catherine Booth for 37 years, and his wife was an employee for many years too. He said coming to work over the years was always about more than doing his job. “You had a sense of helping people. Everybody helped each other here. It’s incredible to be part of this celebration, I never thought I’d make it to see it mark 100 years.”
Maintenance team member Mike Di Scala and his brother, Lou, a Laundry staffer, don’t only work at Catherine Booth—they were also born there, as were their two siblings.
“This was the community hospital.”
Mike Di Scala, Maintenance staff member
Gisèle Simpson, now a Case Manager in Occupational Health, Safety and Well-Being for our CIUSSS, started working part-time at Catherine Booth when she was 17, following in the footsteps of her mother, who was a Nurse Manager. She remembers a place where birthdays were never forgotten, years of service were celebrated, colleagues played softball together and lifelong friendships were forged. “Everybody knew everybody. You had a real sense of belonging,” Ms. Simpson said.
Just as important as their commitment to one another was the staff’s commitment to patients and users—an ethos that never changed over the course of a century.
“There’s continuity to The Booth,” Ms. O’Grady says. “The staff has just gone about doing their job and meeting the needs of the population. The Booth is a family that helps us through tough times and fun times.”