The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.2001, Page 23

Vol. 56 #3
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
149
gravel, and rains or melting snow yielded
great mud-holes which swallowed up axles,
dampened ignitions, and clutched greedily
at any passing car. In winter, drifting snow
could accomplish much the same
thing.Eventually Emily left Wadena suffer-
ing from exhaustion. She went back to
Winnipeg and rested at her Aunt's home, as
well as resting for a time at Sig and Lizzie
Arngrimson's at Elfros.
The first Wynyard Hospital
The Doctor then in Wynyard wanted
desperately to start a hospital. Time after
time the planning foundered due to inabil-
ity to agree. Much of the disagreement was
between Catholics, who wanted a Catholic
hospital run by an order of nuns, and the
rest of the community who wanted a more
broadly-based community hospital. Dr.
Arnason finally obtained an old hotel near
the train station on the West side of the
main street—a building which eventually
burned down. Dr. Arnason turned it into a
hospital of sorts and Emily ran it - both
Emily and the Doctor put their own
money into it! It finally closed - they went
broke—and Emily rented a small three
bedroom house on the same street as the
court house - there she lived and cared for
patients in the extra rooms. This was pri-
vately dubbed “The Cottage Hospital.”
Emily often asked her cousin Lizzie
Arngrimson, (my grandmother), to come
to help with tonsillectomy cases, which
were done in groups, assembly-line fashion
by Dr. Arnason. Lizzie came from Elfros
to Wynyard by train and spent the day.
Her children Tobba (my mother) and
Sophie had the run of the hospital, or felt
that they did. Her help was mainly with
cooking and housekeeping, which left
Emily free to devote time to nursing duties.
This train trip was made more than once.
My mother, though small, particularly
remembers a young boy named Skordal,
who was very badlly burned, being cared
for there.
Unfortunately, Emily found she still
couldn't make a living at the business of
patient care in Wynyard. She was forced to
leave for the city.
Saskatoon - the Nurses' Registry
Emily moved to Saskatoon. At that
time in Saskatoon there was a “nurses' reg-
istry,” a list of available nurses who were
contacted in rotation for duty. These nurs-
es would in addition to private duty, travel
anywhere in the province to relieve hospi-
tal nurses or matrons who were ill or who
needed a break from work. For Emily, this
arrangement gave much-needed breathing
space between assignments. An assignment
could also be refused and it would simply
go to the next person on the roster- you
would then have to wait till your turn came
around again. Most of the work was pri-
vate-duty. Because of her extensive experi-
ence, Emily was called several times to fill
in for matrons taking time off. She spent
one entire summer as replacement matron
at a children's home in Saskatoon. Emily
was in great need of extensive breaks in