Local Heroes

Kettner was one of the pioneers of Child Life, a profession that supports not only the medical needs of children within the health care system, but their emotional and psychological needs as well. The idea behind Child Life is to recognize the importance of nurturing all aspects of growth in children in order to promote physical healing.

Kettner has always enjoyed working with children, a fact reflected many times over in her education and employment history. When her four children were either gone from home or old enough to stay at school for lunch, she went back to school. She earned her Diploma of Applied Arts in Early Childhood Education from the Manitoba Institute of Technology (now Red River College) in 1968, followed by a teacher’s certificate in Special Education from the Manitoba Department of Education. She then applied for a position as a play therapist at St. Boniface Hospital.

“They took me into a 12-year-old boy’s room. He had a very rare skin disease that caused his body to be covered in what looked like scales,” Kettner recalls. “I said to him, ‘It must be so hard for you to smile’ and a tiny smile crossed his face.” She got the job immediately.

She later spent time as assistant director of the Child Life Department at the Children’s Hospital of Winnipeg, which has been described as an integral part of the hospital, and acted as director from 1971 to 1987. “Ruth is a very caring and generous person,” says Renee Ethans, current manager of the department. “She has a warm way with families, and she really contributed to the growth of Child Life.”

Among her contributions, Kettner spearheaded the creation of CH-TV, a closed-circuit television channel that entertains children in the hospital with age-appropriate programming. The hospital brings in entertainers to perform for the children, who are also able to record their own shows or greetings to air on the channel. “The most beautiful thing about CH-TV is that it started a trend,” says Kettner. “Now other hospitals have similar channels for the children.”

Another of Kettner’s contributions was the introduction of puppets to teach young patients about various medical procedures. Holly the puppet, for example, used raisins to teach children with asthma and cystic fibrosis how to swallow pills.

Kettner is also credited with introducing numerous playrooms and programs to the hospital over the years, including outreach programs to help the classmates of sick children understand what is happening to their friends and orientation programs for children waiting for surgery, to name a few.

And in addition to her involvement with several children’s organizations, Kettner was appointed assistant professor with the Department of Pediatrics in the University of Manitoba’s School of Medicine in 1986, after the head of pediatrics recommended her for the position. There, she taught others the skills needed to work with children and helped them understand how to deal with death and dying.

Her efforts did not go unnoticed. In 1977, she received the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal for her work, and she went on to win the YWCA Woman of the Year Award in 1978 and the Child Life Council Distinguished Service Award in 2004.

Kettner’s contributions to the Children’s Hospital and the Child Life profession are too numerous to list, most of them borne from her innate caring nature and experience as a mother. Though she retired long ago, hospital staff still consider her a mentor and many still follow her practices today. “I’ve always loved her,” says Renee, citing Kettner’s charm and grace as two of her best qualities. And judging by the smile on Kettner’s face when discussing the children in the hospital, she still has a lot of love to spread, too.