Let’s Chat: Change can happen at anytime

By Linda Tooth on August 6, 2025.

Every parent’s worst nightmare became reality recently when a new mother was rushed to the Medicine Hat and District Hospital with her two-month-old baby who was having trouble breathing.

The doctors and nurses determined that the mother and baby needed to be airlifted to Calgary immediately. Upon touchdown in Calgary, they were then taken to the Alberta Children’s Hospital.

They waited for what I am sure was a very long few days before a surgical room became available and surgery was performed on a hernia that was pushed against their diaphragm, constricting breathing.

Did you know that the Alberta Children’s Hospital first opened in 1922 under the name of the Junior Red Cross Children’s Hospital. At that time, they were focused on helping children with polio and it was staffed by volunteer doctors, and parents were only allowed to see their children once a week. That must have been agonizing for them.

The current location for the Alberta Children’s Hospital was opened in 2006. To date, they have helped over 100,000 children navigate medical conditions with bravery and compassion. Parents of sick children have the option to stay overnight at the hospital or if they are there long-term, the Ronald McDonald House is an option. The house which opened in 1985 is one of four located in Alberta.

At these houses, parents can relax in a home environment where they will enjoy home-cooked meals, restful sleeping accommodations and the company of other families who are experiencing the same gut-wrenching situations as they are. These houses are staffed by employees and volunteers who give their time to help those in need.

The Medicine Hat and District Hospital Foundation, the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation, RMHC and Halo are all registered charities in Canada that depend on funding to help those in need.

How can you help?

The next time you are at a McDonald’s location in Alberta or even Canada, look at the kiosk you are ordering from. You will have an option to round up your purchase or donate a certain dollar amount. Please think of doing this as all monies raised go to support the Ronald McDonald House Charities in Canada.

On behalf of my family, I would like to thank the following people, the doctors and nurses at Medicine Hat Regional Hospital for triaging my family members and realizing they needed to go to Calgary right away, HALO for the safe transportation of them, the Alberta Children’s Hospital for diagnosing and treating the hernia the baby had that was making it hard for them to breathe and lastly the Ronald McDonald House, for taking care of my family when they needed it most.

Thank you, it does not seem like enough.

I will do what I can to be a voice for these charities and all that they do to help families, like mine.

Have a Meowtastic Day and please keep reading.

Linda Tooth is a part-time communications instructor at Medicine Hat College

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