Current News > August 22nd, 2008: New Director of Nursing arrives at KDH
Kemptville District Hospital
2675 Concession Road, Kemptville, ON K0G 1J0
Tel: (613) 258-6133; Fax: (613) 258-7853
August 22, 2008
Media Release – August 22, 2008
Kemptville, August 21, 2008: Barbara Savage, Kemptville District Hospital's new Manager, Nursing Services, is ready for just about anything. She has seen much of the world, first through the eyes of a military child, then working at Ottawa General Hospital's ER and recently as Director of Critical Care for the King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Saudi Arabia An 850 bed hospital with 63 different nationalities, open exclusively to members of the Royal Family.
When asked 'where's home' Barbara responds with more of a question "Ottawa?" It's a typical response for many military families. She was born in Montreal, but her father was a pilot in the Canadian military and base commander at various locations across Canada. He later served as Canada's military attaché to Cairo, Egypt. This was a more novel posting for a military family on the move; one that would influence career choices down the road.
Barbara worked in Emergency for the Ottawa General Hospital for about twenty years, before undertaking a major change in life and career. She answered a recruiter's call in 2001 and arrived in scorching Riyadh two weeks following the September 11 attacks. "The Saudis didn't believe fellow citizens could be involved in terrorism," said Barbara, "but once the Royal Family started applying pressure Al-Qaeda retaliated." Several major bombings rocked the capital. One, targeting a police barracks, shook the windows of the nearby King Faisal Specialist Hospital where Barbara worked.
This day was the most challenging in her life, Barbara recalls: "A police barracks had been bombed nearby. Normally we only treated Royals and VIPs but we were the closest hospital so thirty wounded policemen showed up in the ER all at once. They do things very differently there. They don't immobilize the patient or apply first aid. Instead, they piled the wounded into the back of trucks and cars and descend, en masse, into the Emergency Department. Saudis believed they should watch everything, but they usually don't help. Media, camera-men, housekeepers, administrators, police and everyone else rushed into the Emergency Department. They simply watched as we struggled to triage the wounded and deal with the carnage. We couldn't even move patients into x-ray or trauma rooms because of the crush. It was every ER nurse's nightmare"
Amid the confusion, Barbara took charge and forcibly expelled the watchers, most of them men. "In the end everyone did well. But, the next day I was called up to the Administrator's office and reprimanded for my behaviour toward the mostly-male crowd." Barbara had been living a different life in Saudi Arabia. She wore a bulky black gown at work and in public, to conceal her figure. She could not be seen in the company of a man either, unless it was her husband or a male relative.
Public gatherings were not allowed, even her weekly hiking group of expats who had to constantly dodge the religious police. "It's just very different there," Barbara said philosophically, "but that made the work so much more challenging."
After five years in Saudi Arabia, Barbara is back 'at home' in Eastern Ontario. Besides the Canadian culture, she enjoys time under the St. Lawrence River, as a certified Dive Master. It meant trading in the warm and colourful waters of the Red Sea, for colder water full of well-preserved wreckage.
Her management style is more in line with the culture here - consultative, team-oriented and focused on the quality of patient care. "I'm a facilitator. I want to make it easier for nurses to come to work and be happy, because that passes down to patients in the form of higher quality of care."
Up until now, her experience has always been in large teaching hospitals but Kemptville District Hospital offers up something new. "Staffing is a major challenge in hospitals today, but I can see it's different here. The nurses are from the community, and have a higher sense of ownership in their work-place," she reflected.
Catherine Van Vliet, Director Patient Services & Integration, said that KDH is excited to have Savage join our Patient Services: "Barbara understands the importance of KDH to the health and wellness of our community. With her involvement in regional emergency services, Barbara was well acquainted with KDH's reputation and history of quality care. Her decision to join the KDH team speaks to KDH's successes, values and prominent community role."
Barbara has enjoyed getting to know her colleagues, and was taken recently to her first OPP Charity BBQ. "It was just lovely to see the whole community coming together like that," she said, "I'm going to like Kemptville."- 30 -
For more information, please contact:
Alex Heath
Director, Kemptville District Hospital Foundation/ Manager, Hospital Communications
Tel: 613-258-6133 x 194
aheath@kdh.on.ca