Victoria General Hospital (Halifax) - Halifax Hospital

Victoria General Hospital is a hospital in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and part of the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre. Which began as the City Hospital in 1859.

History

The hospital was established in 1867 by the City of Halifax and the provincial government when the former City and Provincial Hospital at the same site (Peter McGuigan, The Historic South End Halifax) was renamed; the City and Provincial Hospital having been established in 1859. In 1841 the idea of replacing the current hospital began, but it would be until 1844 that anything was accomplished from the meeting of the Medical Professional of Halifax. With the mayor donating his annual salary to kick start funding, the remaining funding was highly talked about between the provincial and city politicians. Finally in 1857 in a large open rather boggy field the building was completed in 1857 at a cost of $38,000 which was paid for by the city of Halifax. Due to many problems with the building it lay virtually vacant from 1860 to 1866.

Modern history

In 1948 a new Victoria General Hospital was opened immediately east of the land which would eventually become home to the IWK Health Centre, a children's hospital, on a block bounded by Tower Road, University Avenue and South Street and was the largest hospital in the province in terms of both staff and bed capacity. A hospital parking area was established in the lot between Tower Road and South Park Street; in the 1980s the lot was expanded to physically join with the hospital facilities, effectively dividing Tower Road into two sections north and south of the facility. Historically, "the VG", as it is called, was aligned with the Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine as the province's only teaching hospital. The Victoria General Hospital's emergency and outpatient services were closed and consolidated at the new Infirmary site in 1998.

First patient

A farmer named Mr. Hubley was the first patient of the new hospital which he was being treated for his strophulus ankle joint in 1887.

VG Archive & Museum

Set up in 1982 by nursing and physician staffed at the hospital through the VG nursing school Local Historian Nurse Madeline McNeil who worked in the Victorian era 1887 hospital as a nursing Student and Dr. Ron Stewart who has been active members of the Museum and VG archive.

Ambulance services

The Victoria General Ambulance service begin in 1867, with a single horse cart that was stabled behind the Jubilee building. March 10, 1867 requististion for the first ambulance was signed for by accountant Dr. Charles Putter. In 1928 the first motor vehicle names the "Black Moriah" was purchased followed by in 1949 a 31-foot 5 door ambulance with a push button operation air conditioning, electric fans, and leather seating. The first "emergency medical assistants" training program was initiated under the leadership of Dr. Cain, which would later be known as Paramedics.

Services

1890 - Training School for Nurses opened - one of the first in Canada.
1904 First X-Ray equipment was installed
1912 Facilities of Pathology opened
1919 further expansion of the hospital Nurses residence and Private Pavilion began.