KATERI MEMORIAL HOSPITAL CENTRE
P.O. Box 10, Kahnawake, QC J0L 1B0
450-638-3930
www.kmhc.ca
Dr. Bruemmer
By Zachary
Goodleaf for the Kateri Memorial Foundation
We thought it would be interesting to get to know a little bit more about the doctors who work at the Kateri Memorial Hospital Centre. We see them at the clinic all the time, going about their business providing excellent care to our community members. So for starters, we decided to delve into the life of Dr. Aurel Bruemmer, a primary care physician who has worked at the KMHC for the last16 years.
Dr. Aurel Bruemmer, an avid traveller and proud father of five, has worked at the Kateri Memorial Hospital Centre since 1998. However, his first encounter with serious illness happened when he was just a teenager.
“When I was fifteen I spent a summer in Labrador living on a traditional hunting and fishing camp and that’s where my first experience with serious medically related issues arose,” said Dr. Bruemmer. Recounting this early incident that impacted him greatly, he went on to say, “There was a child that died at the camp, as well as an elderly gentleman who was suffering with end stage cancer and my role was to stay with him overnight and administer his medications. Getting involved in the care of the people is what brought me to consider medicine”.
On his choice of career path Dr. Bruemmer says, “Being a doctor is privileged work. I can go home and feel that it was a good day, perhaps it was a long and tough day but I feel that I did good no matter what”.
“When I started working here 16 years ago, I had a sense that I would start my career here and end my career here. Dr. Wojcik, Dr. Jones and Dr. Rubin have all been at KMHC for 30 or more years and I can understand why this can happen,” he asserted with confidence.
The doctor says he responds to the sense of community that comes along with working here because it’s his first time being a part of one. About Kahnawake, he reflects thoughtfully, “It is a friendly and welcoming place to be, while uniformly being treated with great kindness and respect”.
He feels that larger hospitals can be very impersonal and that the difference here at the KMHC is the relationships built with the patients and their families.
It’s obvious that Dr. Bruemmer has formed a bond with Kahnawake and the institution where he treats and cares for his patients. Summing up his feelings he says, “I couldn’t see myself working anywhere else and I’ve always considered Kahnawake and the Kateri Memorial Hospital my main responsibility”.
We are very lucky to have Doctor Aurel Bruemmer here in our community and we thank him for being with us! •
