In the following decades, our nurses opened cottage hospitals along the coast, provided care to remote northern communities and met the needs of families unable to afford healthcare. Supported by donations and small government grants, our nurses delivered babies, offered new mothers’ education and clinics, collected clothing and supplies for young families and provided nursing care to the underprivileged population. From the 1950s to mid-1970s, VON had nine branches in British Columbia providing visiting nursing and home support services, but in 1976, all but one of these branches closed when the provincial government cancelled contracted nursing services and began to utilize government funded health units.