Longtime staff member shares lifetime connection to WLMH
For Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) booking clerk Robyn Morrison, life is all about connections. Connections to family. Connections to community. And connections to her local hospital in Grimsby.
Morrison is a booking clerk at HHS West Lincoln Memorial Hospital (WLMH), where she was born 47 years ago, adopted privately by a local couple and raised in the Vineland, Grimsby and Beamsville areas. “We brought her home when she was about five days old,” says Morrison’s father David Cuthill, a retired Mohawk College English teacher. “It was one of the most exciting moments of our lives.”
A special place
“I have wonderful co-workers and when I go to work it’s like seeing family.” — Robyn Morrison, booking clerk.
With the adoption pending, Cuthill asked his Mohawk students to suggest baby names. “I told my students that we were in the middle of adopting a baby girl, and our class had a naming contest,” says Cuthill. “One of the students suggested the name Robyn. It seemed fitting to name this little baby after a tiny bird.”
Morrison’s parents told her at a young age that she was adopted. They also let her know that WLMH was a very special place, because she was born there.
“Growing up, Robyn was always fascinated with the hospital and her connection to it,” says Cuthill. “Connections have always been very important to her.”
Sights set on WLMH
Morrison went on to study office administration at Mohawk College, where her dad worked, graduating with Dean’s Honours. Her first job was in the private sector, but she had her sights set on working in health care, specifically at WLMH.
“I would apply to the West Lincoln hospital every two weeks because I wanted to work there so badly,” says Morrison. “I finally got a job interview and accepted a position there. That was 16 years ago and I still love working at West Lincoln hospital. I have wonderful co-workers and when I go to work it’s like seeing family.”
Morrison started her WLMH career as a booking clerk in diagnostic imaging, then worked as a business clerk for the emergency department before returning to diagnostic imaging as a booking clerk. Her youngest son volunteers at the hospital’s coffee shop.
“There’s such a connection for my family here,” says Morrison. “West Lincoln Memorial Hospital is a huge part of my life story.”