After receiving his medical degree from McGill University in 1911, Harold J.G. Geggie (1886-1966) began practicing medicine in Wakefield, Quebec, as an assistant to Dr. Hans Stevenson. Shortly after Dr. Stevenson's death, Dr. Geggie left the practice in Wakefield to join the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps in 1918. He was sent overseas to England, where he fostered an interest in pediatrics. After his return to Quebec, Geggie actively promoted rural family practice to young medical students and focused his attention on the foundation of a community hospital in Wakefield. On account of Dr. Geggie's efforts, as well as local support, the Gatineau Memorial Hospital was opened in March 1952. When his sons, Hans, David, and Stuart, finished their own medical training at McGill, each returned to Wakefield to practice at the hospital. Dr. Geggie wrote extensively on his 55 years of medical practice in the Gatineau region. His journals, compiled by his son and daughter-in-law, were published in the 1987 book "The Extra Mile."