Dr. Ralph Burnett View A Story - YARMOUTH, Nova Scotia | Sweeny's Funeral Home and Crematorium

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Beyond the call of duty

I was Dr. Burnett's secretary and I remember this patient who had cancer and was near the end.  The patient was in hospital and Dr. Burnett had to go away on a 4 day medical conference.  While he was gone, the patient was discharged from hospital because of bed shortages.  This was very upsetting to the patient and family.  Dr. Burnett arrived home Sunday evening and as usual, he called me to find out what had happened during his absence and what he was doing the next day.  I told him about the patient that had been discharged and how upsetting it was and that I had received several calls at home over the weekend for reassurance that the wife was doing everything that she should be doing to keep the patient comfortable.  Without a second thought, Dr. Burnett told me to get ready and he would come and pick me up and we would go and see this patient to make sure that everything was okay.  He picked me up and we drove for about 25 minutes out in the country and arrived at the patient's home around 10 pm.  Dr. Burnett visited with this patient and talked to him for about 2 hours.  I will never forget how grateful the patient and his wife were that he took the time and did this after being away from his family for the best part of a week.  That was the kind of man and doctor that he was.  The patient was readmitted to hospital a few days later and died within the week.  There are so many stories that I could tell but this one stood out in my mind.  God bless you, Dr. Burnett and you will be sadly missed by many.

Posted by Marjorie Saulnier
Tuesday January 20, 2015 at 10:06 am
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