Charter, Christine (1913-2012)
See Oral History files, Fonds 18, Series 3, Subseries 8
Christine Charter obtained her academic education in England and New Brunswick. Graduated from the Saint John General Hospital School of Nursing. Took a post graduate course in obstetrics at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal and received a diploma in public health nursing at the School of Nursing, Toronto University. She moved to Vancouver and was director of the Vancouver branch of the Victorian Order of Nurses. During World War II in Nova Scotia she helped set up emergency treatment in the basement of a school for injured crew attacked by German U-boats. She was transferred to Toronto in 1942 and Vancouver in 1944.
She introduced many innovative home nursing programs, hiring the Order’s first male nurse to enable eleven male quadriplegic patients to move from hospital to a home setting. She added physio and occupational therapy services, and also set up Vancouver’s Meals on Wheels program.
Contents of Biographical File
- Article on Charter in Health & Home Care newsletter, Fall 2008.
- “A Legacy with the Victorian Order of Nurses: Charting a Path Towards Better Community Care,” VON at Work, Spring 2004, pp. 1,4.
- Obituary from the Vancouver Sun, August 25, 2012, p. E14.
- Page from CRNBC Memorial Book
- Christine Charter: Photograph and photocopy, b & w
- The transcript of a 1988 interview with Christine Charter is located in Fonds 18.