A piece of local health care history was honoured at a ceremony last Friday that placed a plaque and cornerstone from the original Masonic hospital in Morden in a new location at Boundary Trails Health Centre.
The Morden Freemasons’ Hospital plaque and cornerstone were re-dedicated at BTHC last week, along with a few time capsule items from the Masonic Lodge of Manitoba and the hospital
It comes as BTHC continues to grow to meet the needs of the region with a major expansion and renovation project. The cornerstone and accompanying plaques were carefully moved to a new permanent home that was prepared with a new time capsule to mark its third dedication.
“I feel really honoured and privileged to be part of this,” said Rey Galapon, grandmaster of the Masonic Lodge of Manitoba. “I’m very happy, and I’m proud to be part of this occasion.”
The history goes back to 1890 when Corbet Locke, head of Belmont Lodge No. 13, proposed the creation of a hospital in Morden.
The cornerstone of the Freemasons’ Hospital was laid July 1, 1892, and for decades the facility served area patients.
After being replaced in 1952, the original building later became a personal care home until its demolition in 1969, when the cornerstone and a plaque honouring Locke were relocated to the Morden lodge building.
The cornerstone gained new life in 2001 when it was placed within a wall at BTHC when it opened that year.
“The connection is really significant,” suggested Galapon. “It solidifies the commitment, the connection of the Grand Lodge of Manitoba and the Freemasons here in Manitoba to the community.
“The significance of the cornerstone here in Boundary Trails hospital is that it makes that connection to the community of Morden and Winkler and Carman and the surrounding area,” he said. “The cornerstone is symbolic, part of our ritual, our ceremonies, because we believe that a solid square, a cornerstone, is important to have a strong foundation.”
The Masonic representatives added a number of items of regalia into the time capsule, including ceremonial pieces that have connection to the moral and social virtues they want to represent.
“It serves as a reminder to us to apply those morals and virtues in our lives, to become a better person,” Galapon said.
Dana Human, interim CAO of Southern Health-Santé Sud, called it another historical moment with the placing of the cornerstone as well as a new time capsule that included such things to mark this current time such as COVID tests and personal protective equipment.
“Today hopefully we’ve put it in its final place as well as added some time capsule memorabilia,” said Human, who also reflected on the community’s ongoing commitment to providing care.
“The history is so rich in this community,” she said. “This community alone has got a long history of health services and advocating to ensure that they’ve got what they need within the community, and so to be a part of it here today is just another check box in the history books.
“I really like these historical moments, and it adds to our history book within Southern Health–Santé Sud as well,” she added, noting it was also nice to mark the significant progress that has been made on the expansion of the hospital.
“Every time I come here and I see the progress … we’re not only celebrating the history but we’re also looking at the present.”
The $100 million expansion recently reached a key milestone with construction now mostly complete on a new two-storey inpatient unit and community services building. Patients are expected to begin having access to the space in the new year. Renovation work will then start on existing spaces in the older hospital building.
