When Orléans was little more than a police village and Cumberland was mostly a rural township, the population was cared for by a series of dedicated doctors who were an integral part of the local community.

Collectively, Doctors Ferguson, Irwin, Major and Kennedy formed the vanguard of medical care in the area. A small group of present day community leaders want to recognize the contributions made by these medical pioneers by dedicating the waiting area in the new Orléans Health Hub in their honour. To do so, they must raise $50,000.

They’ve managed to raise half the funds so far. On Oct. 16, they will launch a fundraising campaign to raise the other half.

Former Cumberland Ward city councillor and Orléans MPP Phil McNeely is among the group of community leaders behind the campaign.

He is passionate about the need to recognize Orléans and Cumberland’s medical pioneers in the new building.

“The old time doctors were the lifeblood of the community,” says McNeely. “If someone was sick, they came to the home. It didn’t matter what the weather conditions were like. Before there were cars they would use horse-drawn cutters and buggies. Doctors Ferguson and Kennedy delivered an entire generation of babies in Cumberland alone.”

Dr. James Ferguson was the first doctor to set up a practice in Cumberland Village. He arrived in the village in 1861. Two years later he married Susanna MacLaurin who he had met while studying at McGill.

The couple would eventually take up residence in the stone house at 2607 Old Montreal Road, known as Clearview at the time, where they established a medical practice and pharmacy. Dr. Ferguson was extremely popular and people would come from miles around to see him.

After Dr. Ferguson’s death in 1921, Eva Farmer Kennedy would take over his medical duties.

Eva studied to become a nurse at the Metropolitan Hospital in New York City. After returning home in 1918, she would often assist Dr. Ferguson prior to his death.
A year later she would marry Robert J. Kennedy who had served in World War 1.
Eva Kennedy would be the town’s chief medical practitioner for the next 50 years, delivering hundreds of babies during that period. She also had six kids of her own, including Irving Farmer Kennedy who would become the town’s second doctor – but not before he received the Distinguished Flying Cross with a bar for his service as a fighter pilot during the Second World War.

“Bus” Kennedy, as he would become affectionately known, was brought into the world be Dr. David Irwin, who was Navan’s first resident doctor and brother-in-law to Eva. Dr. Irwin practiced medicine from 1914 until he died in a train accident in 1944.

“Bus” Kennedy practiced medicine in Cumberland Village from 1961 until his retirement in 1989.

Dr. Émile Major was the first medical practitioner in the village of Orléans. He set up his practice in 1925 and served the local community until 1962 when he moved to Ottawa. He served as Medical Officer of Health for the townships of Cumberland (1942-) and Gloucester (1946-) and as coroner for the United Counties of Prescott, Russell and Carleton from 1951 to 1969.

To find out how you can make a contri-bution to the fundraising campaign go to https://carrefoursanteorleans.com/en.