Grey Bruce Boomers Fall 2021

A tireless
volunteer
Joan Crowe, 93, continues to volunteer
at Owen Sound Hospital during
COVID-19 pandemic
spry age 93, Joan Crowe continues to be a tireless
A volunteer at Grey Bruce Health Services (GBHS)
Owen Sound Regional Hospital, which she’s been doing
for 23 years. In that time, she has logged 3,680 hours
of service, and has volunteered in day surgery, the lab
and currently serves in ambulatory care. Joan’s husband
Walter also volunteered with GBHS until his death in
2016.
Joan has continued volunteering through the Coronavirus
pandemic because she says she needed to keep her
mental health in check and she wanted to do something
useful during these challenging times. Living on her
own can be isolating and she enjoys talking to people in
ambulatory care. Some of the patients there are hoping
for a successful surgery or treatment and others are
having their final check-ups and are getting better.
“I have lived through a number of epidemics in my life,”
Joan said. “We never shut down, we got on with our lives.
If we were lucky, we didn’t get it. If we got it, we were
ill for a few days. I have never experienced anything this
serious or prolonged before.”
Joan picked up an extra volunteer shift in ambulatory
care during the pandemic so she could help where there
was a vacancy. Her family, a daughter in Waterloo who is
a doctor and her son in Toronto, are very supportive of
her volunteering. They know she needs to get out and see
people and feel useful each day.
Thank you Joan for supporting GBHS patients and staff!
Know a Game Changer in your community? Email amy@
greybruceboomers.com and tell us their story!
FALL 2021 • 29