In 1971, Shirley was part of the first graduating class of dieticians to work at the Regional. “Dieticians had never really been involved in patient care,” she says. “It was great, because we got to choose what areas we’d like to work in.”

Shirley quickly found her passion working with diabetes patients. She learned all she could, working on dialysis therapy and even prescribing specialty tube feedings.

She spread her knowledge to the community by joining the hospital’s extra-mural program. Visiting outpatients at home, Shirley helped people control their diabetes through diet and contributed to improving their quality of life.

When she retired, Shirley thought about how dieticians had become an integral part of patient care over the course of her career. Already a regular donor, she felt inspired to find a way to direct a gift in her will to the program she helped grow.

Shirley has donated her life insurance to dietician education at the Saint John Regional Hospital. She’s glad to know her gift will support future dieticians like her, passionate about finding ways to improve patient care.