The rich history of Winkler's medical services were in the spotlight last night at the Winkler Heritage Banquet.

Guest speaker, Dr. Don Klassen, shared on the humble beginnings of medicine in Winkler in the early 1900s to the present.

Featured prominently was well-known physician and community-builder Dr. C.W Wiebe, who served a population of just 970 in 1925. At that time, Klassen notes local doctors dealt with a high maternal mortality rate and many infectious diseases like TB.

Wiebe also believed Winkler needed a hospital and eventually helped open a locally funded facility in 1936 at the cost of $10,000. Wiebe would go on to help kickstart Valley Rehab, embark on a brief political career as an MLA in the 1930s and help start the original Winkler Clinic. He would deliver approximately 6,000 babies during his career, and together with colleague Dr. A.B Warkentin performed over 500 surgeries.

However, Klassen says there are grave lessons to learn from our local medical history. In the polio outbreak of 1952, Winkler boasted a population of 1,642. In one year, the community saw 225 polio cases, many under the age of 10. In total, 86 died, and 198 suffered significant paralysis.

Klassen also spoke of the following years and the challenges for a young medical staff serving a rapidly growing community. The situation became so dire Klassen says they wondered if they would come to a breaking point. However, he says a watershed moment came in the 1990s when a recruitment drive pushed their number from five to 10 physicians, many from South Africa.

Eventually, in 2001, planning for the regional Boundary Trails Heath Centre came to fruition, creating an epicentre for health services in the Pembina Valley. Now the region boasts many specialists and services, physicians that have served for over 40 years, something Klassen says reveals a strong commitment to the region and the community.

This year also marked the Winkler Heritage Society's 20th anniversary of preserving the community's past.

Member Randy Rietze explains they're grateful for their many sponsors and supporters who have helped open a museum at the Southland Mall, noting they have plans to expand the space to showcase more of their collection. Organizers would also like to see their archives, currently housed in the Winkler Library, be located in the same place as the museum.

"We want to keep the heritage of Winkler alive as long as we can, we can tell our grandkids and they can tell their grandkids," Rietze says. "We're hoping to keep history alive."

Dr. Don Klassen with Winkler Heritage Society's Randy Rietze