The Citizen of the Year for 2016 has devoted her time to a number of community organizations since retiring as the Director of Nursing at Battlefords Union Hospital just over fifteen years ago. She has served on boards, including the Battlefords Union Hospital Foundation, and now serves on the board for the Third Avenue United Church and Edwards’ Society. She is an active volunteer with the BUHF, the Pastoral Care Committee, Dekker Centre, and Meals on Wheels.
When she got the call informing her of the recognition, she was dumbfounded, said this year’s honouree, Pat Gotto.
“I was shopping and I didn’t know what to say. I just stood there.”
The news had sunk in by the time we spoke and Gotto described her feeling for being recognized as “very humbled,”
(although, she says she did try to give heck to who she suspected nominated her, but they proclaimed their innocence.)
In a written submission to the Citizen of the Year selection committee, one nominator cited Gotto’s ardent community involvement.
“She works tirelessly for every organization that she joins, and there are many. [She] truly enriches the lives of people of the Battlefords and gives freely and generously to many.”
Gotto finished nursing school in Regina in 1954 and began her career in North Battleford a short time later she worked as a bedside nurse for five years before moving on to evening supervision, unit manager for surgery and intensive care and assistant director of nursing before finally becoming director of nursing.
She credits her nearly forty year career in healthcare for making her more aware of the needs of others.
"Healthcare has been my passion my entire life. I was a registered nurse and worked at the hospital here for close to 40 years. Probably, because of nursing, you're exposed to the needs of people a great deal more and it does make you much more conscious of it.
“You have close contact with a variety of people in the community so it's very obvious there are people who are in need.”
While nursing may make the faculty for empathy more sharp, Gotto confirmed that she always had a desire to help people. With fewer career options for women at the time, nursing stood out for Gotto among the rest.
“I have loved teaching in nursing, and that's one of the things I really miss when I did retire, is the teaching of the patients to help them maintain their health, but teaching as far as schools, did not appeal at all.
“I just knew all my life that that was what I was going to do. I really don't know what attracted me. I came from a farm beginning and then into a small town where there was no hospital but somehow something told me that was what I wanted to do.”
And nursing proved to be the only career option Gotto needed.
“I thoroughly enjoyed nursing, always, always,” said Gotto. “It's extremely satisfying to see someone who is ill and then see them recover and walk out of that hospital a healthy person again.
“That is a very, very satisfying feeling to know you had a part in that.”
While Gotto was still working at the hospital, the BUH Foundation started, and she jumped at the opportunity to contribute, first as a member of the board and now as a volunteer.
“[BUHF] just became a part of my life and I'm very glad that it did because it has allowed me to keep a finger in there throughout the years since I've been retired,” said Gotto. “I’ve been with them right from the beginning, so 23 or 24 years.
“The community is very supportive,” she added, “so we want to know they are getting the best they possibly can. The foundation also contributes continuing education with hospital staff, so we know the staff is always keeping up to date with the latest treatments that's really important. Of course, healthcare has always been my passion so I want to know that we have the best equipment we can possibly get.”
Being involved with the BUHF means Gotto contributes to their many fundraising efforts throughout the year, including the Wayne Pruden Memorial Tournament, the $100,000 Lottery and the Festival of Trees. These events keep her busy, which she prefers to sitting at home and looking at four walls. “There’s no fun in that,” she concluded.
Speaking of her coworkers at the foundation Gotto said, “They're a great crew and they've always had very good people on their board, just nice people to work with.”
Along with her work at the BUHF where she can keep a finger on the pulse of local healthcare, Gotto also volunteers with the Western Development Museum’s Those Were The Days.
“We need to know where we come from if we're going to know where we're going and I think that's a very important part of our community,” she said of the weekend event that brings in hundreds of people to learn historical details of North Battleford’s past.
Also on her mind is mental health, which “needs to come into the forefront,” she said. “We all think we're healthy and don't have any problems, but when you really think about it we probably all go through mental health problems at some time — certainly periods of depression or extreme stress. Everyone goes through that whether we realize it or not and it's so important to have good mental health so you survive and cope with it.”
She also sits on the board of Edwards’ Society, which runs a group home and an apartment program, does knitting that she donates to schools for kids to keep warm at recess, volunteers with Meals on Wheels, and is a member of Third Avenue United Church’s Pastoral Care Committee which works to offer emotional support for people who are ill, bereaved, or going through a hard time because “often [people] just need someone to talk to.”
It’s a way to “let people know that you’re there,” said Gotto, “if you have a need, I would help you.”
Words to live by, and Pat Gotto does just that.
Citizens of the Year to be honoured Feb. 3 at WDM
Citizen of the Year Pat Gotto and Junior Citizen of the Year Natalya Shevchuk will be honoured at a banquet Friday, Feb. 3, at the Western Development Museum.
Tickets are available at the Discovery Co-op administration office located at Territorial Place Mall beginning Jan. 3.
The Battlefords Citizen of the Year awards are sponsored by the Battlefords News-Optimist, Discovery Co-op and the North Battleford Lions Club.
For further information contact Alana Schweitzer, publisher, Battlefords News-Optimist, 306-445-7261 or Glen Gantefoer, Discovery Co-op, 306-445-9800.
