Date Range

1940-1950

Description Level

Item

Creator

A.E. Cross

Physical Description

2.2 x 94.8 x 83.5 photographic print

History Biographical

"Photographic print is of the original St. Michael's Hospital Building. The building was the Van Haarlem Hospital from 1909 to 1929, before that it was called the Wimpole Hospital. The print was removed from St. Michael's Hospital before the Hospital was demolished in 1996. *UPDATE* In 2014 Collections Assistant Jane Edmundson conducted a survey of art objects, including those recovered from St. Michael's Hospital prior to its demolition in 1996. The following history of the Hospital was developed with information from the Galt Archives, Archives Canada Online, and Record P19960116001. St. Michael's General Hospital was founded in Lethbridge by Catholic Sisters of St. Martha of Antigonish in May 1929. The facility of the privately-owned Van Haarlem Hospital (1224 - 7th AVE S.), able to accommodate 27 patients, was purchased for $34,000. A small house across the street served as a residence for the Sisters, with one room furnished as a chapel. A Hospital Board was formed, consisting of the parish priest and six local businessmen. In cooperation with the City of Lethbridge, the construction of a new modern 100-bed hospital started in 1930. Henry William Meech was the Architect for the project. The new building opened at 9th Avenue and 13th ST South in September 1931. The newly named St. Michael's General Hospital was now able to accommodate 100 patients, and the original group of doctors included D.A. McNally, W.S. Galbraith, P.M. Campbell, R. Shillington, G.W. Leech, D. Woodcock, G.L. Connor, W. Brians, L.A. Roy, G. Spackman, J.S. Wray, B.O. Fowler, J.E. Lovering, F.W. Swancesky, D.A. Taylor, Braithwaith, J.K. Bigelow, and A.A. Haig. The Hospital contained children's, youth and psychiatric wards, four operating rooms, a chapel and a special ward for casualties of the WWII and the P.O.W. camp. In 1932 the hospital obtained accreditation under the Hospital Standardization Program of the American College of Surgeons. After WWII the Hospital was expanded with an 83-bed east wing, opening in 1951. In 1953, the Hospital received a new nurses' residence and the school of nursing; the school trained over 500 nurses over the next twenty years. In 1965 another expansion wing extended the hospital's capacity to 207 beds. The school of nursing closed in 1973, and the remaining Sisters of St. Martha still working in the hospital lived in the vacated student residences. In 1984 ownership of the hospital was taken over by the Alberta Catholic Hospital Foundation. In 1986 financial difficulties began to appear and eventually resulted in the hospital being converted to St. Michael's Health Centre in 1992, focusing on the needs of long term patients. Financial difficulties continued until the Hospital was closed in 1995. St. Michael's Hospital was demolished in 1996. At the time of the 2014 survey, the former hospital site housed the St. Therese Villa, a longterm nursing care facility, and the St. Michael's Health Centre, a multi-purpose rehabilitiation, pallative and continuing care facility, both constructed in the late 1990s. The following history of the Van Haarlem Hospital, the building depicted in this photograph, was developed with information from the Galt Museum blog article 'London Road for the Win' (February 2012), The Galt Archives, and the Lethbridge Herald articles from April 25, 1995 and February 2, 2013. The building was constructed in 1911, owned by Dorothea Pinhorn and operated as the Wimpole Maternity Hospital. In 1914 the Hospital was taken over by Maria Elizabeth Van Haarlem, who had been operating much smaller nursing homes in the City since 1909. The Van Haarlem Hospital grew from a maternity hospital into a full treatment centre with the addition of another wing to accommodate more beds and a surgery. Another wing was added during the Spanish Flu Epidemic of 1918-19, which grew the hospital to 27 beds. In the 1920s a laboratory and X-ray were added. In 1929 the Van Haarlems sold the hospital to the sisters of St. Martha, who operated St. Michael's Hospital in the building until their new facility on 13th Street South was completed in 1931. The Van Haarlem building was converted into a nurses' dormitory and served that purpose until 1967 when it was converted into a boarding house. On February 1, 2013, the Van Haarlem building was destroyed in an act of arson. It had been operating as a transitional housing facility and was home to 26 residents. The building burned to the ground and the lot was cleared. As of the 2014 survey, it is still vacant and for sale. See permanent file for hardcopies of newspaper articles on the Van Haarlem Hospital Building."

Scope and Content

Photographic print of the original St. Michael's Hospital Building. The photograph was taken by A.E. Cross Studios. The building is white with trees in the front of the image. The photographic print is black and white that has been touched up with green and blue pencil. In the bottom right hand corner is "A E Cross Studios" in pencil.

Accession No.

P19960116171

Collection

Archive

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