The Irvine Family
Irvines have been pharmacists for three generations they served Braemar Hospital for 82 years…
When Bill Irvine was born at Braemar's maternity unit Waione in1944, his family could never have known that his association with his birthplace would last for many decades; that the steep Tainui St driveway to the hospital-on-the-hill would become almost as familiar as his own.
At the time of Bill's birth his grandfather Neil Irvine, a Hamilton pharmacist, was supplying prescriptions to Braemar, dispensing them in his chemist shop at 599 Victoria St.
Neil Irvine had started his Hamilton pharmacy in 1919 when he relocated from Reefton on the South Island's west coast. He'd run a pharmacy in the small gold-mining town but his wife Ethel's family lived in the Waikato and this link prompted their move north.
Neil began his service to Braemar when the hospital opened in 1926, and his son Graham, Bill's father, also a pharmacist, continued the association when he took over the business in the 1950s.
Bill recalls that as a boy he often helped his father at the pharmacy, washing bottles, cleaning the dispensary benches, and delivering medicines to clients on his school bike. He regularly went with his father in the car to Braemar to help carry cartons on days when there were big orders.
Bill became utterly familiar with the people and the needs of Braemar. So when he, too, became a pharmacist and took over the family business in the 1970s, he slotted seamlessly into the legacy of dispensing for the hospital.
Bill got great satisfaction from the service he provided. He specially loved the “trouble-shooting” aspect of the work, when he was sometimes asked to source less common drugs at short notice. He was always determined to deliver, scouring the country [by telephone] for various medicines, then organising couriers for quick pick-up and delivery.
Braemar staff knew Bill was on call 24/7, and he would cheerfully return to his pharmacy at night to pack an urgent request. One night when Bill successfully tracked crucial drugs needed during an emergency operation, a theatre nurse commented afterwards that he'd helped save the patient's life.
Bill even cobbled together a Braemar order from Hong Kong during an overseas holiday a few years ago after he took a call on his mobile from a staff member who'd forgotten he had another pharmacist covering for him.
The nurse woke Bill in the early hours of the morning, he put on his best professional voice, never let on he was in Hong Kong, made a few phone calls to Hamilton, and the drugs were duly delivered.
Bill was proud of the loyal and professional care his family provided for Braemar. But there was no fourth-generation pharmacist to follow so the Irvine connection came to end when Bill retired in late 2008.
A year earlier, Bill had attended a small ceremony in Hamilton with then Health Minister Pete Hodgson, who presented him with a certificate to celebrate the Irvine family's 100-year service to pharmacy in New Zealand.
Neil had registered in 1907, Graham in 1937, Bill in 1968, and the trio served Braemar for 82 years. When Bill toured the new hospital shortly after it opened, he was delighted to find that one of the patient lounges was named Waione, and his birthplace would not be forgotten.
