Memorial at Edmonton General honours longtime staff member and resident
January 9, 2025
By Marguerite Watson, senior advisor, content lead
Every time staff, residents and visitors pass a certain corner of unit 4AB at Covenant Health’s Edmonton General Continuing Care Centre, they are reminded of Alice Broomhall.
Alice was a nurse who held many positions — staff nurse, assistant head nurse, head nurse and evening supervisor — at the Edmonton General from 1958 to 1981, when it was an acute care facility. Then in 2011, decades after the site had changed its focus to continuing care, she became a resident on unit 4AB, where she lived for nine years.
“She was a great mentor and a role model for students, staff and co-workers,” says Geraldine MacInnis, resident care manager for units 4AB and 4C. “She really epitomized what a nurse is, even as a patient, even during her co-residence here as well.”
When Alice passed away in 2020, at the age of 101, Geraldine proposed the idea of making the corner where her nursing desk had been stationed when she was head nurse on unit 4A into a memorial for her. Through a donation from Alice’s family and a matching grant from Covenant Foundation, Geraldine created Alice’s Corner, a quiet, comfortable sitting area where families can visit with their loved ones or staff can take a break.
(From left to right) Judy Purkis, Dona-Lynn Hawreschuk and Bob Broomhall cut the ribbon dedicating a memorial space for their mother, Alice Broomhall, at the Edmonton General Continuing Care Centre.
“Anytime you took Mum by (that area), she would remind everybody that that was her desk,” says Bob Broomhall, Alice’s son. “(Before), there really weren't too many places where you could go and have just a quiet conversation, so that's what Alice's Corner is now — a very comfortable little area where people can sit and have a visit or some quiet time.”
Geraldine worked with Covenant Health’s capital planning team to choose paint colours and furniture for the space and with the facility management and occupational health, safety and wellness teams to ensure it is safe and suitable (for example, free of tripping hazards) for residents, staff and visitors alike. The corner includes a coffee table and chairs arranged on a floor decal “rug,” along with a decorative fireplace and shelf displaying photos and highlights of Alice’s life and career.
"It's very welcoming and warm when you walk onto the unit. (Alice’s Corner) just puts a smile on everyone's face when they enter."
Four years in the making, the memorial space was dedicated during a ribbon-cutting ceremony last fall with Alice’s three children, two of her grandchildren and several Edmonton General staff in attendance.
“It was really special to be there to see it for the very first time and then just be a part of that ribbon ceremony,” says Judy Purkis, Alice’s eldest daughter, who worked at the Edmonton General as a unit clerk. “You could just feel her in that corner. I can't think of anything better to honour her.”
Alice’s youngest daughter, Dona-Lynn Hawreschuk, also a retired nurse who worked at the Edmonton General, says Alice would have been pleased with the recognition.
“I just know how honoured she'd feel, but also how humble she would be about it, and she wouldn't think she really deserved it, which she definitely does,” says Dona-Lynn.
For Geraldine, making the memorial space a reality is a special achievement that she will treasure.
“We worked hard together to bring this vision (to life) for Alice and her family,” she says. “It will always be a good memory for me. Every time I walk onto the unit, I smile because I know we ‘ve supported not only the resident but the family in what was important to them.”