Leamington District Memorial Hospital

Description

Vision Approved by Board of Directors 051025

We will be a respected leader in an integrated health system

Our Mission Statement Approved by Board of Directors 051025
quotLDMH is dedicated to improving the health status of the people we serve With compassion and in partnership with others we will strive to provide quality continuity of service and excellence in health carequot

History

The story of Leamington District Memorial Hospital was penned by many hands Its authors were doctors nurses business owners community leaders and the residents of the area it served While special care was taken to reproduce its story in entirety we apologize if we have neglected to acknowledge everyones valuable contribution Leamington Hospital was built by a community that needed it and has been supported by a community that believes it is theirs to own
The following timeline is a tribute to the hard work and undying commitments of the people who made it what it is today Click the links below to read the story of your hospital

Organized medical care in Leamington dates back to 1910 when nurse Maude Tisdale along with her mother opened a small nursing home on Oak Street East In 1916 she moved to Erie Street South to operate Tisdale Hospital a twostorey facility with the operating room located in a bedroom on the second floor After surgery doctors carried their patients down the stairs to the mainfloor recovery room The hospital closed in 1930 when Miss Tisdale died

In 1920 nurse Ada McQueen opened the Cottage Hospital next door to Tisdales facility Three years later she moved to a house on what would later become Wilkinson Drive The Cottage Hospital served until 1933 when two nurses from Strathroy opened Hopewell Hospital Under the direction of Mary Dinning Hopewell offered four private rooms and one ward in a large frame house at 37 Russell Street Hopewell eventually relocated to Russell House a former hotel on the same street and Dinning expanded her hospital to 22 beds

Over the next decade Hopewell treated so many patients that by 1943 it was bursting at the seams Faced with increasing costs and a severe shortage of nurses Dinning decided to close Hopewells doors and accepted a supervisory position in Strathroy Devastated by the news both the Rotary and Lions Clubs of Leamington stepped in to prevent the area from losing its only local medical facility On July 7 members of the Leamington Lions Club voted to conduct a campaign with hopes of building a new hospital that would meet the needs of a growing population A provisional board of directors was appointed with Chairman Lloyd Bowman leading the early fund raising campaign and preliminary planning for the new 50bed hospital On July 12 the Leamington Rotary Club voted to rent the facility from Dinning and took over operations of the hospital for what they assumed would be a temporary period The Rotary held several fundraising campaigns to assist with operational costs and recruited many of their members wives to fill voids left by a depleted staff On July 31 they held one of the communitys most successful tag days of their time raising 900 towards the effort

In September of 1943 the new hospital Board received its charter and a Hospital Week Campaign was officially launched on October 4 grossing more than 75000 in the first three weeks In January of 1944 despite the fact that Hopewell was running an operating deficit of 2400 the Rotary voted to assume ownership of the hospital and its medical equipment A committee lead by WT Stone helped set a goal of raising 3500 a figure they eventually surpassed allowing them to operate without a deficit by the end of 1947 Simultaneously an Auxiliary formed under the direction of Mrs Jack Eltherington With assistance from the Rotary Anns and Ladies of the Eastern Star they continued to provide volunteer services and fundraising assistance for Hopewell

The sixmonth stop gap turned into a sevenandahalf year endeavour as raising money for the new hospital was not an easy task Not only had the war effort drained community resources the new hospital fundraising committee was competing with the Victory Loan Campaign It was through sheer persistence that 90000 was raised during the early part of 1944 It was when contributions flattened that the committee decided it was time the taxpayers of Leamington and Mersea Township were given the opportunity to show their collective support Through a majority vote residents agreed to support 75000 worth of taxbased contributions helping meet the Boards initial goal of raising 150000 by the end of the year When a fiveacre piece of property south of Talbot Street West was purchased from GA Brown in April of 1945 the dream of building a new hospital seemed closer to reality

The following January preliminary calculations determined the hospital would cost upwards of 290000 almost twice as much as originally estimated Even so the Board commissioned architect HJ Smith of Toronto to draw up plans and called tenders in December of 1946 To their further dismay the lowest bid came in at 449795 Lloyd Bowman vowed to keep the dream alive and continued to lead his committee with vigor until 1947 when Dr EK Lyon took the helm A prominent local physician and surgeon Dr Lyon was a wise choice for chairmanship as the community trusted his leadership and respected his authority without question Dr Lyon was a pioneer in group practice and President of the Essex County Medical Society in 1946 He subsequently became the President of the Ontario Medical Association in 1956 and President of the Canadian Medical Association in 1959 serving as deputy to Prince Philip Honorary President of the British Medical Association

Further appeals added more than 250000 from Leamington and Mersea Township taxpayers with the remaining funds granted by the various levels of government Windsor contracting company DinsmoreMclntyre was hired in January of 1948 and turned the first patch of sod on March 4 of the same year

Two years later on March 28 under the leadership of Mrs Edith Atkin the first Ladies Aid meeting was held to recruit women from the vicinity to carry out similar services as were provided at Hopewell The guest speaker Mrs Herman Savage of Windsor explained the role of a hospital Auxiliary and presented a model of the kind of member who would provide unselfish service the term that would be adopted as their motto The original Auxiliary primarily consisted of prominent women from the community The wives of doctors business owners and board members opened their homes and gardens for fundraising teas and generated a great deal of support largely because of their status However it was not all socializing Among other things the Auxilians early duties included conducting various fundraising campaigns staffing a TB chest clinic canning fruits and vegetables for the patients and making and repairing all hospital linen

Finally on April 1 1950 the Leamington District Memorial Hospital was completed at a cost of 482968 allowing the Rotary Hopewell Hospital to close and donate its equipment and supplies to the new facility It was considered a remarkable feat that the Board was able to raise enough money to build the hospital and open its doors free of debt One of the original and very active Auxiliary members Lucile Miner of Kingsville called Leamington District Memorial Hospital a tribute to the fine spirit and cooperative effort of the people of the district it served

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