At Watson Lake Community Hospital, meals are more than just food—they’re a source of comfort, culture, and connection. From moose and caribou to salmon and fresh produce, traditional foods play an important role in patient care, ensuring meals are both nutritious and culturally-appropriate.
For 22 years, Bev has been dedicated to health care in Watson Lake. As a cook, she plays an important role in nutrition and food preparation services ensuring patients receive meals that nourish both body and spirit. Beyond supporting patients, the hospital kitchen also helps provide meals for the wider community in partnership with the Liard First Nation.
“I love the job because I love cooking, and it's all about putting love into what you make. So everything I do is made with love,” she says.
Let’s learn more about Bev’s role with Yukon Hospitals.
How big is the team here in nutrition services for Watson Lake?
Right now we have two part-time cooks’ and we have four casual on-call.
What do you do on a typical day?
On a typical day I prepare meals. That is true even if there are no patients in the hospital. This is because we are doing a meals program with the Liard First Nation. So I start out in the morning preparing meals for that program.
At this point, we're doing 16 meals per week, but the number meals cooked depends on a bi-weekly request.
Then throughout the day I also make meals for any patients and for staff as well.
Some of the ingredients we see are moose and caribou and salmon. Why is it important to have that traditional food here?
I think it adds to the comfort for the Indigenous people that are here. If they are in the hospital for, let's say weeks at a time, they probably feel more comfortable eating their own traditional food as opposed to eating what we serve for any other individual. It's food that people are comfortable with.
The patients that are in the hospital don't have to be Indigenous to enjoy that food. They can also eat our moose meat as well.
People from outside Watson Lake may wonder, how's the quality of the food? How are the fruit and vegetables here?
The produce is purchased locally. So it's all fresh. We shop two days per week on Tuesdays and Saturdays and we only buy what we need. That way, we never buy anything extra so that the fruit and vegetables are always fresh.
What do you like about this role?
I love the job because I love cooking, and it's all about putting love into what you make. So everything I do is made with love, and I totally enjoy cooking. Sometimes I do get teary-eyed talking about it, so I'm very passionate about it!
When we have patients in the hospital I ask everybody what they like and don't like. I don't want to prepare a meal for them that they're not going to eat! We also have a two-week menu rotation prepared by a Whitehorse nutritionist and we follow patient dietary requirements and limitations.
And working for the Yukon Hospitals is great, especially in Watson Lake here because we are a team. We are team members and we all work together and it doesn't matter what your position is.
It's like family coming to work. It's always a joy coming to work. I really enjoy my job here.
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
What we would really love to see is someone from the community come into this role.
I tell people there’s the opportunity to grow and learn here. For example, they can start as a cook and then they could potentially become a dietitian with further education, for example.
So it branches out and it’s a good opportunity to develop your career.
We think working here is a great opportunity for our local First Nation people, to decide whether or not this is what they'd like to do as far as work is concerned.
We want to inspire young kids from the high school that do live here in Watson Lake and give them a job opportunity.