Laura McCracken Ebbrell Carries on Gordon Family Legacy of Giving Back

For decades, Laura McCracken Ebbrell has volunteered her time in service of Northumberland Hills Hospital. 

Along the way, she has touched the lives of countless individuals and helped shape what health care close to home looks and feels like.  

Whether you have visited the hospital for a mammogram and were frightened or were coming to see a friend in palliative care, Laura may have been the one who greeted you at the hospital doors and guided you. Or maybe she was the one who delivered flowers to your family in the hospital. 

It may be your worst day, but Laura will greet you with compassion – because she too has needed the hospital to care for her family: A mother, father, husband, and son. 

She is also a driving force behind fundraisers for medical equipment, such as the annual gala.

Laura has dedicated 35 years to the NHH Auxiliary. She has served the NHH Foundation for 12 years. Earlier in life, she also served on the fundraising committee to build NHH and through additional auxiliary, hospital board and health-related roles at regional and provincial levels.

“The inspiration came originally from my mother – (she) was a great role model,” said Laura of the late Marlyn “Ruth” Gordon. “In 1968, when I was just a kid … my grandmother died of cancer fairly young in Montreal.”

Ruth was an only child. 

“My mother was teaching full-time and would go on the weekends to help and visit.”

When grandma died, mom was so grateful for the care received that she wanted to show her appreciation in a tangible way.

She thought of her community hospital, which was Cobourg District General Hospital at the time, recalled Laura. 

Ruth would go on to serve in various volunteer roles spanning decades, including 40-plus years with the auxiliary. 

“She continued to volunteer long even after she had a stroke. And we volunteered together on the front desk at the new hospital from (at least) 2003 to 2008.”

Ruth died in October 2020, but she set the bar high, and for Laura this was a natural path to follow.

“I hope I am setting the same kind of example for my sons,” added Laura.  

Laura said she is proud to carry on her mother's legacy and passion for bettering her community and local health care. 

Currently, Laura continues to serve through the auxiliary and weekly shifts at the front/inquiry desk, where volunteers greet patients/visitors, guide them, answer questions, help with parking, and more. 

“We’re able to greet them warmly, direct or take them where they’re going, whether to the chemo clinic, to women’s health, or surgical suites, and I think it eases people’s minds – they just feel a little better about coming through those front doors.” 

From president to chairing the 100th-anniversary committee and more, Laura has also held other auxiliary roles over the years. 

In her volunteer work through the foundation, Laura helps propel the hospital forward by aiding in fundraising efforts for medical equipment, ensuring quality care can be delivered close to home. 

Currently, she serves as chair of signature and third-party events, which means helping to bring to life popular fundraisers like Wine and Ale in the Park, as just one example. 

“It’s a privilege and honour to be able to do this. I wish more people realized the intrinsic values, (and) the rewards there are for doing this kind of volunteer work. We receive more than we give.”

This is another reason why Laura continues to give back. 

But she also understands the significance of the care provided at NHH – the warmheartedness of the hospital family – having experienced it up close. 

This includes the care for her mother over two lengthier stays – once for a broken hip and the second preceding her final 18 months at the Golden Plough Lodge.

After losing her mother in 2020, Laura lost her father in 2021, as he passed at NHH.

Her first husband of 27 years, Brian McCracken, passed away in May 2008 at NHH after a courageous battle with cancer at age 53. 

Before his diagnosis, Brian had fundraised with the Lions to outfit the hospital cancer centre, recalled Laura. 

“Then, shortly after we opened the (new) hospital, he was diagnosed with cancer, and he died in 2008 …”

Brian had his diagnosis at the hospital, his first surgery, chemotherapy, and spent the last 10 weeks of his life in palliative care at NHH.

Laura remembered thinking she knew how everything operated then. 

“But that was life-changing, to watch that journey, to see the kindness, empathy and diligent work (of all staff). I got to see all aspects of the hospital, from admitting, to diagnostic imaging, to support services, to cancer care, to surgery, to palliative care – I got to see all that up-close.” 

The day Brian died, their son, then only 18 years old, was having trouble with his lungs – he had a spontaneous pneumothorax (a collapsed lung.)

“This is a Saturday morning (when) his father dies, and the surgeon comes to the door and has to take him to the surgical suites to have that fixed on that day. It was an eery experience, and he had to stay in hospital for several days and got out just in time for the funeral.”

Laura recalled incredible kindness and care for both Brian and her son.

“I know how people feel coming through the front doors.”

As a volunteer, Laura said she always felt “a hospital family” culture at NHH – but then you see it from the other side of a patient: “It inspired me to keep doing this because I know how important it is.”

“Lots and lots of people do way more, but (this is) what I can do – it is what I could do,” said a humble Laura. “And I’m so glad that I’ve done it and I’m going to continue to volunteer at the hospital for as long as I can.”

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