By Land and By Air
as a General Practitioner in Eldon and on several occasions, I had to walk some distance to make my calls.
Last week I read 700 pages on the history of Diefenbaker and am now reading five books. I got IO books ofthe history ofthe world for Christmas.
EPILOGLIE
On March 12, 2001 Stewart MacDonald was 89 years old. He was in excellent health, with no aches or pains. There was still a spring to his step, and he could read newsprint without wearing glasses. His memory was phe— nomenal, and he did his own Income Tax return.
Shortly after that, the Chief of Staff at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, decided to terminate Dr. MacDonald’s surgical assisting. We never knew who started the rumour that he had had a heart attack in the Operating Room. Noth- ing could have been farther from the truth. In fact, he never did have a heart attack, nor was he ill in the OR at any time.
Stewart contacted the Canadian Medical Protec- tive Association, to which he had paid premiums for many years, and the CMPA hired a Charlottetown lawyer to represent him. As Stewart said, it wasn’t that he wanted to work, but that he wanted the right to work.
It was a very stressful time for Stewart, and it was very detrimental to his health. After two months or more, without getting a satisfactory settlement ofthis case, the lawyer gave the QEH an ultimatum - if Dr. MacDonald’s OR privileges were not reinstated by a given date (about mid-June), this case would be taken to court. On the pre- ceding date, about 5:30 in the evening, a letter was deliv— ered to Stewart from the QEH, saying that his OR privi-
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