Walking past the helicopter pad and newly renovated Emergency Department at Sechelt | shíshálh Hospital, Dr. Eric Paetkau recalls his time working at the hospital when it was in Garden Bay. “When I was on-call on weekends we would go sailing and fishing, staying in sight of the hospital. We had a system where a red blanket was draped over the railing outside to signal a medical emergency. A green blanket meant ‘come in the next 1-2 hours,’” he chuckles.
Clearly, a lot has changed since then. After the hospital in Sechelt, B.C. opened in 1964, thanks to the generous and visionary gift of 11.2 acres from shíshálh Nation Elders, it almost immediately started growing from a two storey 25-bed facility, to its current size and shape.
With his daughter Dr. Carla Paetkau and son-in-law Dr. Jack Bryson at his side, Eric is quick to recall stories from his time working at the heart of local medicine from 1959-2002; like the day the new hospital in Sechelt first opened (Nov. 29, 1964). Eric saw a patient who needed his appendix removed right away, and had the honour of performing the first surgery at the new facility — before it actually opened. Not long after the ribbon cutting, he was called back to the old hospital to deliver the last “Garden Bay baby.” And with that, our community finally said goodbye to a long, winding drive for medical emergencies.
While it is remarkable having a surgeon in the family with the kind of history and impact on local medicine as Dr. Eric Paetkau, having three doctors in the family, and counting, is truly exceptional.
“My Dad had a positive influence on me and my friends,” recalls his daughter Carla. “He gave us a lot of encouragement.” Growing up in the 1970s she was often asked if she might pursue nursing, “but my Dad and all the doctors I knew really loved their jobs and found it very rewarding, so I chose to become a doctor.”
It was at UBC that Carla met her husband, Dr. Jack Bryson who admitted, “Initially I chose Aeronautical Engineering, but once I got to my second year I changed my major. I was interested in the sciences, but I was also interested in people — specifically helping people, that was my passion.”
While Carla has now retired from her medical practice, Jack continues working in family medicine, focusing on maternity patients and the ER. Will there be another member of the Paetkau-Bryson family to carry on the legacy of local medicine soon? “Oh… just maybe,” Dr. Bryson responds with a smile.
Dr. Eric Paetkau is now the only doctor on the Coast who worked at both the hospital in Garden Bay, and Sechelt | shíshálh Hospital.
