Gaston Dargis was recognized as a real workaholic. In addition to being the only general practitioner in Malartic for several years, he was a municipal councilor for ten years, owner of a pharmacy.
He was also the founding president of Club Richelieu de Malartic.
Father Robert Charron, who was Catholic parish priest in Malartic, worked with him for several years.
From 1969-1970 when the general hospital was changed to a psychiatric hospital, it was the essential cornerstone. He played a role that if he had not played the hospital would not have evolved as it evolved and psychiatry would not have developed
, affirms Robert Charron who describes Gaston Dargis as a brilliant man, intellectual and devoted to his patients.
He was also a bon vivant, who was known for his wine cellar.
A consultation could take maybe 30 or 45 minutes, but he relaxed by interacting with people, it made him very, very human and he got to know the whole life of the people of Malartic.
, he said.
Gaston Dargis’ pharmacy in Malartic.
Photo: Courtesy
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Robert Charron launched the Brousseau-Dargis Foundation, which notably subsidizes organizations working in mental health. The foundation still exists today.
These are 2 doctors who recall a time of the beginnings of Abitibi. They were doctors like he doesn’t really care anymore. Dedicated people for whom the work and the good of the patients were more important than the pay which ended up coming in all the time
, adds Robert Charron.
In the early 1950s, medicine was very different. As there was no hospital in Malartic, Gaston Dargis sometimes had to give birth in the residence of his patients.
He is remembered by many for the many deliveries he has had.
He did a lot of monitoring pregnant women, I think he must have given birth to a large part of the population of Malartic and that is a job that is day and night, it requires a lot of presence
, adds psychiatrist Jean-Michel Beau, who has been his work colleague for several years. He also remembers his passion for travel.
I think he must have treated at least 75% of the population of Malartic. There was no social class with him, he was the same with everyone, when we needed he answered no matter the time
, remembers the businessman and former mayor of Malartic, André Vezeau.
He was a real workaholic, he was all alone as a doctor for several years and at that time there were still 7,000 people in Malartic, that’s not nothing
, says Réjean Hamel, a good friend of Gaston Dargis.
