Did you know there was a tunnel to Kindersley’s old hospital?

By Joan Janzen

KINDERSLEY — A little-known feature of Kindersley’s former hospital was a tunnel connecting the facility to the nurses’ residence next door.

Photos and information shared by former Kindersley resident Ron Lamont show the old hospital with the nurses’ residence located to the right of the building. According to Lamont, the underground tunnel allowed nurses to travel between the residence and the hospital without going outside, helping them keep their uniforms clean while reporting for duty.

The residence provided private rooms for each nurse, along with a sitting room where they could receive visitors. Meals, however, were taken at the hospital.

The building was also carefully supervised. The matron’s suite was located by the front entrance of the residence, allowing her to keep watch over the nurses’ comings and goings at all hours.

Lamont recalls visiting the residence often in the early 1950s to see Stella, who was working as a nurse at the Kindersley hospital at the time. The couple later married in 1954.

A photograph from Lamont’s collection shows Stella Lamont standing beside an unidentified patient outside the hospital. Readers who recognize the man in the photo are invited to contact the newspaper.