O'Leary community hosts send-off celebration for Dr. Herb Dickieson
Cody MacKay | CBC News | Posted: October 28, 2017 6:00 PM | Last Updated: October 28, 2017
'We're really going to miss him being available because that doesn't happen so much anymore'
The O'Leary Community Health Foundation is throwing a celebration on Sunday to honour Dr. Herb Dickieson.
After practicing medicine in West Prince for nearly 30 years, the former NDP leader and MLA announced his retirement from his medical practice in O'Leary, P.E.I., this summer.
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Eva Rodgerson, chair of the foundation, said the party is for the people of West Prince County to share their stories and appreciation for Dickieson.
"We're going to have an open house where people can come and show appreciation to Dr. Herb for the commitment he's made to this community, the hours he's spent caring for us," she said.
"We just wanted to wish him well in his retirement, he's certainly well earned it."
1:30 p.m. at O'Leary Community Complex
Rodgerson hopes it'll be a special celebration for Dickieson, with plenty of food and drinks as well as providing people an opportunity who "might want to tell a story about how he's made a difference in their life."
"He was one of those doctors that was always available 24/7 — if you needed, you could have his cell phone [number]," she said.
"He's really an exceptional individual and has really served our community here well. We're really going to miss him being available because that doesn't happen so much anymore."
The party begins at 1:30 p.m. at the O'Leary Community Complex, a proper place to send off the doctor, Rodgerson said, because the building used to be the community hospital, where Dickieson first started his career.
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