Nominations open for 2017 Dr. David Scott Award

March 29, 2017 · 0 Comments

By Mike Pickford
Nominations are now open for one of the most prestigious annual honours in the Headwaters region.
Since its inception in 2000, the Dr. David Scott Award has been presented to local individuals, each of whom has one thing in common — the desire to go “above and beyond” to improve the lives of area residents and a determination to bring the community closer to Headwaters Health Care Centre (HHCC).
HHCC board chair Louise Kindree told the citizen she was excited to kick off the nomination process for an 18th straight year.
“This is a truly special award that we at Headwaters Health Care Centre have the privilege of presenting each and every year,” Kindree said. “While it recognizes the efforts of those in our community that work to establish a closer bond our hospital and the public, it also serves to honour Dr. David Scott — one of Orangeville’s, and indeed the hospital’s, greatest ambassadors.”
So who exactly is Dr. Scott? Kindree said he was the first specialized doctor to practise in Orangeville. Completing his undergraduate for medicine and fellowship in general surgery in Toronto, he returned to the place he always called home, and where his father was a doctor, in 1962. During his 35-year career he had multiple roles as the Dufferin Area Hospital’s chief of staff and board chair of the Wellington Dufferin District Health Council, alongside numerous other positions on several provincial health care committees — a testament to his “impeccable” leadership skills.
Those skills were perhaps best highlighted when Scott led the charge for a new hospital in the community. With the town quickly outgrowing the Dufferin Area Hospital building (now the Lord Dufferin Centre), there was a clear need for a new facility in Orangeville. According to Kindree, Scott was “instrumental” in ensuring Orangeville was at the top of the list when the provincial government cleared the way shortly before the new millennium.
“He was tenacious. Dr. Scott knew that this community needed a new hospital and he was the leader in obtaining government approval for our current hospital building,” Kindree said. “Not only that, but he was also very instrumental in getting what we call our ‘turnkey clinic’ situated beside the hospital.”
With that clinic in place, Orangeville was able to recruit 15 new family doctors — an “incredible feat,” Kindree said.
While Scott’s work for the hospital — which he continues to this day, despite “retiring” some 20 years ago — is unparalleled, it was his commitment to the community that served as the inspiration for this award when it was launched all those years ago.
“Dr. Scott is a life-long citizen of Orangeville, and that has been shown through his constant commitment to bettering health care in this community. He has been a fantastic ambassador for this facility, but not only that — he’s also been a great ambassador for this community,” Kindree said. “The big thing about this award is that it’s not just for services to the hospital, it’s for services to the community too. David has touched the lives of thousands – that’s the kind of background we’re looking at (when choosing the recipient of this award).”
The call for nominations went out earlier this month, with the deadline set for April 3. Nominations can be made by any person or organization and will be evaluated on four key components — type of involvement (organizations the nominee has worked or is associated with), community service (including length of service), achievements of individual and the overall impact they’ve had on the community.
The Dr. David Scott Award will be presented at Headwaters Health Care Centre’s Annual General Meeting June 20.
For more information, visit www.headwatershealth.ca/drdavidscottaward