Cariboo residents are extremely appreciative of those who find themselves working Christmas Day.
Dr. Mike Garrard is an ER physician at the Cariboo Memorial Hospital in Williams Lake and says there is a strong sense of community support.
“It’s nice to know that people do care and are considerate about people who may be unfortunate to be with their families on those days, so we do find the community very generous and do bring in things.”
Garrard goes on to say that it’s not necessarily about what people materialistically bring.
“The nice thing also is that at this time year the holiday attitude does a lot of good for increasing the mood and listing the tempo of the entire emergency department by just being more friendly, more patient, and jovial.”
Garrard says staff who also have the day off often bring in Christmas treats for their colleagues.
He’ll be managing the ER today with three nursing staff.