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…very welcoming…a great place to relax…!
"My name is James and as a PGY-2 Family Medicine resident based at Sunnybrook in Toronto, I spent two months in Markdale & Flesherton for my teaching practice rotation. Although I had only heard great things from other residents who had spent time there, I was still a bit hesitant about practicing in a rural & under-serviced area.
Fortunately, the hospital & clinic staffs were very welcoming, as was the community as a whole. I was invited to dinners and even got to see an OHL game in Owen Sound with other residents. In addition, my primary supervisors and even other attending physicians always took time for teaching and were exemplary models of traditional general practice covering hospital inpatients, nursing home residents, OR anesthesia & surgical assist as well as their roster of community patients. I had an interest in ED work and they were able to accommodate my learning needs.
Markdale was also a great place to relax and I certainly made ample use of the snow that we got by snowboarding at a selection of local mountains!" |
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“…the Best Decision We’ve Ever Made.”
Our first experience with Grey County was several years ago as weekend cottagers. We so thoroughly enjoyed the people we met, the ambience of the town, the countryside and the lifestyle, that we decided to abandon the city where we had lived for 26 years and move to Markdale. It was the best decision we’ve ever made.
Initially we were concerned about what city people think about country people: that people in a small community know all of your business. We also were anxious about leaving behind the plethora of “cultural advantages” of the city. We didn’t know if we would be considered “outsiders” in a close-knit community. Finally, we were concerned that we would feel isolated and not have the opportunity to be involved and contributors to the well-being of the local scene.
Rubbish, all of it !!
We were welcomed into the community with genuine warmth. We were presented with innumerable occasions to volunteer our services, our opinions, our talents and our muscles on town events and building projects (who do you think helped dig the basement for the new library and painted the walls in the clinic and taught at Homework Club and picked up the garbage at the annual Mountaintop Jamboree and sang in the local Gilbert and Sullivan concert and knit dolls for Afghanistan with the Knit Wits and wrote articles for the newspaper and washed dishes at the church ?).
The peaceful beautiful rural setting, the wonderful sincere people, the many out-door recreational opportunities at our doorstep and the chance for both of us to be as fully involved in the community as we wish: these are (only) SOME of the things that drew us to and keep us in Grey County.
Barbara & Dave Sackett
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“We think the Centre Grey area is a great place to live and raise a family”
Five generations of farm families have been raised on the beautiful Hargrave Farm located south of Maxwell. Today three generations still live in the original farm house, Grandmother Laura Hargrave and Allan and Diana and their two sons Jarrett and Christopher. Together, brothers Don and Allan Hargrave farm 230 Acres raising prize winning purebred Angus cattle under the name Harprey Farms.
Diana feels it is a “great place for a Doctor or anyone to raise a young family. There are all kinds of activities in the country and families tend to work and play together more often. Sure we all work hard to get the hay and straw in but then we all get ready to have fun at the fairs. With so much to choose from, hiking, skiing, swimming and organized activities like lacrosse, soccer, 4H, Cubs, Scouts and Brownies for example there is something for everyone.”
Much of the fun for Jarrett and Christopher is spending their summers outdoors on the farm helping their Dad and Uncle Don Hargrave and even their neighbours while getting their show calves ready for the fall fairs with their cousins Mathew, Darren and Michael.
Laura is retired Director of Nursing at Centre Grey Hospital and Diana works in the health care field. Both know how important having a hospital and emergency room is. “We haven’t had a major emergency here but when Christopher was born prematurely it was our local hospital that assessed the situation correctly,” says Diana. “And when Christopher broke his leg it was great to know the hospital emergency in Markdale was there for us.”
“We think the centre Grey area is a great place to live and raise a family,” says Laura. She should know, five generations have lived on the Hargrave farm.
The Hargrave Family |
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...we think we’ve found the total package!
Until we discovered the Centre Grey area, we
had felt that the most beautiful view in the world and something special is looking easterly from Ravello, Italy out over the Gulf of Salerno. But when we witnessed the “blue haze of distance” on a summer morning looking out over the Beaver Valley and Georgian Bay toward Thornbury from the edge of the Niagara Escarpment, we knew that we had found something just as special right here in Ontario.
We moved to R. R. 4 Markdale in 2003 leaving behind an active lifestyle near a quaint little village in south-central, Ontario. As we settle in, we find this Centre Grey area to be not only beautiful in a raw natural way, with its rivers, lakes and Niagara Escarpment features, but beautiful in a social and cultural way. Yes, we may have slowed down a little bit, but there’s nothing wrong with taking some high energy stress out of your life.
We love it here in Centre Grey, and many of our friends from further south have purchased properties here and have joined us in this amazing place. We think we’ve found the total package and we know we made the right decision in 2003.
Bob and Joyce Oliver |
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"Any physician would love working in this community and in this hospital."
The Centre Grey General Hospital has been a tremendous support to me and my family since we moved to Markdale in 2002. Having a little girl who was born exceptionally small, we knew that there would be times that we would want to have a hospital close by if anything should go wrong with her. The first time she experienced Febrile Seizures at 6 months of age, we were panic stricken. Rushing her to Centre Grey, we were greeted by friendly, compassionate faces, and had immediate care for our daughter. The doctor not only treated our daughter, but taught us how to deal with the problem in the future. When other seizures occurred, we were always treated in the same fantastic manner.
In 2006, my father suffered a stroked while visiting in Toronto. As his health began to improve, the Toronto hospital quickly started looking for someplace to send him, needing to free-up the beds. Centre Grey General Hospital was more than willing to take him on as a patient, where he received outstanding care. Having a Physiotherapy Clinic right in the hospital allowed him to quickly progress to the point that he was able to return home to his wife. At all times, I felt like the staff were treating us like we were part of their family.
In 2008, I suffered a minor heart attack. Immediately upon my arrival, I was again amazed at the care I received. The medical equipment and fast blood work results allowed the doctors to make the very best decisions in regard to my treatment. The nursing staff was exemplary during my stay. It was so nice to be able to speak with people I knew from my community, and to know they genuinely cared for me.
I have always been impressed by the professionalism and quality of care the Centre Grey General Hospital has afforded my family. Any physician would love working in this community and in this hospital.
Bill Legate |
“Choosing to return here was one of the best decisions I have ever made.”
Some people think where they live is the best place in the world because they have never been anyplace else. Other people think that where they live is the best place in the world because they have lived someplace else.
Growing up in Markdale I knew one thing for sure; I would make a fast exit at the first available opportunity to find the excitement a 17 year old didn’t see in the small Grey County village. So off I went to spend a year living in London, England taking a leave from my teaching position.
At the end of the leave, I was given the opportunity to return to a teaching position in Grey County…that was in 1973…and I have never left!
While the wisdom of a 17 year old is not one to question at the time, seeing Grey County from afar certainly made it much more attractive. Choosing to return here, was one of the best decisions I have ever made.
In my role as Director of Education in the area, I have found that our ability to provide support and service to our students is advantaged by the strong professional relationships within our Board as well as with our many community partners. These highly functional relationships enable service providers within our area to provide quality service to our clients because we know how to work together to make that happen.
Mary Anne Alton |
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