Dear Gentlepersons:

It is probably not uncommon for a hospital to receive complaints from patients but this letter is the reverse, a compliment from a satisfied patient. I went to the Emergency of your hospital on Wed. Sept. 27, 2017, was given number 93 by a polite young man, sat near a sign saying «Triage» and within a reasonable amount of time was seen by a friendly nurse named, Debbie.

She took my vitals, temperature, blood pressure, other information and then called a physician, Dr. Clarke, to examine me. It was suspected that I had a broken bone in my arm so was sent for an x-ray.

I am 85 years old so Debbie asked if I needed a wheelchair (in addition to my cane) or if I could walk there. I said I could walk so she got an aide to guide me down the hall to a corridor where I could see the x-ray dept. The staff there was courteous and friendly even though I screamed with pain whenever my arm was manipulated to accommodate the x-ray machine. I returned to the Emergency Dept. and waited a while until Dr. Clarke came to report that I had a proximal radial fracture in my left elbow, gave me two referrals, one to an orthopedic doctor and one to a physiotherapist and arranged for an assistant to place a sling on my arm. This entire visit lasted from 5:30pm until I returned home at 7:30pm, quite a reasonable length of time. Please give my compliments and thanks to the staff in the ER.

In grateful appreciation I am enclosing a small cheque to help repair the chair in Debbie’s office, which is held together by duct tape.

Sincerely yours, Beryl Moser
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A week after my hospital visit, somebody phoned to thank me for the letter and said “Debbie is getting a new chair.” How about that?

I flew to Halifax to be with my daughter three days after breaking my bone and had a great time.
One day I went to the restaurant in our hotel, the Prince George, had a cappuccino and bran muffin, the best one of my life. I felt I had to thank somebody so went to the hotel desk and said, “Who is in charge here?” (It seemed nobody quite wanted to be in charge fearing a complaint). A guy answered and I told him about the great muffin and how nice everybody was. Later in the day, when I returned to my hotel room, I found two bran muffins, a dish of butter and a card, thanking me for thanking them. What a hoot, eh? People like to be complimented. Such fun!

— Beryl Moser