History

The Brockville Free Medical Dispensary opened on June 15, 1881 at 35 and 37 Church St. under the direction of Dr. J.E. Brouse. The dispensary was open every week from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. to provide treatment and medicine for those who could not afford a physician. Brockville General Hospital (BGH) incorporated from the dispensary in 1885.

The original Nurses' Residence stood at 39 Church St. In the early days, nurses were expected to work 12-hour shifts, six days a week.

Their duties included bringing in the coal, filling kerosene lamps, cleaning chimneys and attending to vessels or utensils as often as necessary—in addition to actual nursing work. This building, along with that of the dispensary, has since been demolished.

The Brockville General Hospital meeting for incorporation was held March 26, 1885, in the Council Chamber of the municipal building. Samuel Keefer was president. The Act of Incorporation was filed with Judge Hubert S. MacDonald on April 10.

For several years after, the dispensary continued as it had under its new name, though the facilities were inadequate and outdated.

A 1.5-acre parcel of land was purchased from the Ford family in 1887, and construction began in the fall of 1888 for a new location. In a brick building with four floors including the basement and 42 in-patient beds, the Brockville General Hospital opened its doors at the present Charles Street site on March 7, 1889.

The turn of the century saw growth in Brockville and its general hospital. With a $10,000 donation from Mr. George T. Fulford in 1895 and another $10,000 from Mr. William H. Comstock in 1901, the north and south wings (respectively) were added.

This would triple the size and accommodation of the building. Now it had the capacity for 82 patient beds, new nurses' quarters with a private entrance and a new children's ward.

By 1910, three hospital locations were operational, including the original Brockville General Hospital, St. Vincent de Paul's Hospital (formerly the Garden Street site) and the former “Eastern Hospital for the Insane” that became the Brockville Psychiatric Hospital. This now operates as the Brockville Mental Health Centre.

The first medical surgical staff members of the hospital were Drs. Moore, Giles, Horton, Vaux, Jackson and Forrester. Dr. Brouse, the driving force behind the first Brockville General Hospital, lived to see the completion of his dream, but died shortly after.

The School of Nursing began on Ormond Street in 1889 and saw its first graduate—Miss Isabella Thomas of Brooklyn, NY—in 1893.

For more than 80 years, the school was an integral part of the hospital community, producing 1,189 graduates before nursing programs became part of community college curriculums in 1974.

Pictured: a graduating class from the Brockville General Hospital School of Nursing, circa 1916

These three houses on the right look different now, but still stand today. The building in the centre, the Cornell Graduate Nursing Residence, was demolished in the early 1980s to make way for the former Ambulance building.

Pictured: Brockville General Hospital on Ormond Street facing south, circa 1930

In 1910, Mrs. Charles Edward Fulford donated a gift as a memorial of her late husband to the Brockville General Hospital – the construction of two large sun parlours at the front of the building. This included furnishings and a separate furnace to heat them in winter.

At the same time, the roof was raised to create a large attic, housing a new public ward for men, a diet kitchen and two smaller rooms. At this point in time, BGH accommodated more than 90 patients.

William H. Comstock built the Comstock Memorial Home for Nurses in 1930 in memory of his son Edwin Perkins Comstock. The residence was central to nursing life at the hospital for decades, expanding several times. It was demolished in 2000 to make way for the 2003 expansion.

Pictured: the Comstock home, circa 1971

The Alumnae Association of the Brockville General School of Nursing was formed in 1923 by Miss Maude Arnold and is still active today with more than 290 members. Graduates of the school live worldwide and gather each June for their respective reunions.

Pictured: nursing students take a tea break in the Comstock Residence, circa 1940

Post-war growth demanded yet another addition to the hospital. With plans approved for a new south wing, a community campaign for funds began in 1945. After four years of fundraising, the sod was officially turned to begin construction and was started on May 12, 1949.

The construction contract was awarded to M. Sullivan & Son from Arnprior, Canada's oldest family-owned construction business that still exists today.

Pictured from left: Miss Gertrude Gibson, assistant director of Nursing and Miss Geneva Purcell, director of Nursing. Making a speech is Brockville Mayor W. F. Reynolds, in office from 1947 to 1953. Holding the microphone is Jack Radford, owner of CFJM-AM Brockville at the time. The station became CFJR-AM in 1950.

The hospital gift shop was first called “W.A.G.O.N.” or “Women's Auxiliary Gifts Or Notions.” The shop is still run by the Brockville General Volunteer Association today.

The Association started as the BGH Women's Auxiliary on November 11, 1889. On this date, the first annual meeting was held and the first executive was elected.

As the first president, Mrs. Thomas Gilmour oversaw the philanthropic activities organized by the auxiliary's 59 original members.

One of the first tasks taken on by the auxiliary (only the fourth in Ontario at that time) was sewing extra linens and fundraising for sewing materials for the newly opened hospital in Brockville. To raise money for the hospital, the auxiliary accepted donations from townspeople and held numerous teas, luncheons and concerts.

Pictured: the volunteer-run Wagon Gift Shop, circa 1950s

Construction of the new south wing was underway in the spring of 1949, and was completed in January 1951. The new three-story south wing provided 61 more beds, 23 nursery bassinettes in the new Obstetrics Unit on the top floor, a children's ward, additional patient rooms on the second floor, administration on the main floor and the badly-needed new kitchen and dining room in the basement.

On the right-hand side of the hospital stood the east wing, opened in November 1959. On the left stood the new west wing with a new emergency entrance, opened in 1961. Between these, behind the South Wing, stands the roof of the original hospital. The beds in this old section were closed with the openings of the new wings and still, patient capacity rose from 161 to 221.

Behind the hospital, to the north, was the Comstock Nurses' Residence—expanded at the same time to 71 rooms in order to house the extra student nurses that Brockville General Hospital could now accommodate and needed for its extra patients and services. In the lower left is Brockville Collegiate Institute.

Pictured: an aerial shot of the hospital in 1964

The official opening of the new west wing in 1961 was hosted by hospital CEO R. Allan Hay with special guest Ontario Premier Leslie Frost cutting the ribbon.

The event was well attended by public and staff. By this time, both the east and west wings were in full use and all patient services moved to the new buildings. The old turn-of the-century operating rooms were replaced with a modern operating room suite with four rooms and a recovery room.

The X-ray Department in the old building had been so small that its equipment had to stay in crates until the new west wing provided the larger space.

The ground floor of the West Wing became the new Radiology Department. It is now the hospital's Orthopedics Department.

The hospital's new north wing, built on the grounds of the original hospital building, was officially opened on October 15, 1969 with the Hon. Thomas Wells, Ontario Minister of Health, officiating.

Tearing down the old hospital and housing the services and storage elsewhere until completion of construction was a trying task.

At the 1969 Annual General Meeting for Brockville General Hospital, Board Chair Dean Seaton described conditions as “cramped quarters, with absolutely no storage space and stairs that didn't go anywhere.”

The Ross McNeil Solarium was built in 1983. It was added to the front doors of the south wing.

The solarium was dedicated to the memory of Mr. Ross McNeil, a “friend and former patient” of the hospital, and partially funded by his widow, Mrs. J. Latta.

The solarium offered patients an attractive outdoor space and its basement offered needed storage space for X-ray film.

After lots of planning, discussion and a few false starts, the proposed $32 million expansion to Brockville General Hospital was underway.

In March 2000, the City of Brockville sold part of Emma Street to the hospital for $1.00. The street was officially closed and absorbed by the expansion in June of the following year. The beginning of the Comstock Nurses' Residence demolition occurred in May 2000. It was attended by many nursing alumnae, including the legendary Vera Preston, who served as the director of Nursing at the Brockville General Hospital School of Nursing for more than 30 years.

Sod was turned on March 10, 2001 to begin construction of the 75,000 square foot expansion to the site that would house new operating rooms, Diagnostic Imaging, Emergency and ICU. This latest addition to BGH was officially opened on October 3, 2003.

In order to continue providing a sustainable and seamless high-quality service, Brockville General Hospital and St. Vincent de Paul's Hospital agreed to transfer services.

For 19 months, preparations were carried out between the two hospitals, with the main focus on patient well-being. It was the end of an era in this community. After 119 years of service from the Sisters of Providence facility, St. Vincent de Paul Hospital (pictured here circa 1970) became the BGH Garden Street Site on the stroke of midnight October 1, 2006.

Pictured: St. Vincent de Paul Hospital, circa 1970

On April 1st, 2012, Brockville General Hospital assumed governance of mental health acute care services for Leeds, Grenville and South Lanark from the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group.

These services include the hospital's Elmgrove Site (formerly Elmgrove Unit) on the grounds of the Brockville Mental Health Centre, the Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) Team of Leeds, Grenville & South Lanark and the Mental Health Crisis Team of Leeds & Grenville.

Pictured: George Weber (left), president & CEO of The Royal Ottawa Health Care Group, handing the keys for Elmgrove over to Ray Marshall, former president & CEO of Brockville General Hospital

On August 17th, 2012, Brockville General Hospital's Maternity Department celebrated 100 years of community service by reinstating its original name, the MacLean Maternal Child Unit.

The hospital's maternity unit was created in 1912 as the MacLean Memorial Maternity Ward by a generous donation from then-mayor of Brockville Charles MacLean in memory of his wife Martha Fulford MacLean, who had died in childbirth in 1910. Since then, the maternity unit has provided decades of quality obstetrical care and support to generations of Leeds and Grenville families.

The new signage was sponsored by the descendants of Charles MacLean, and was unveiled on August 17 by one of his grandchildren—Charles MacLean Cochand of Salisbury, England.

After the official unveiling of the new name, the Brockville General Volunteer Association sponsored and hosted a Centennial Tea. Both the unveiling and the tea were attended by representatives from across Leeds and Grenville, the Maternal Child department, and many partners within the hospital organization.

Pictured left to right: Ray Marshall, Brockville General Hospital president and CEO; Jennifer Torode, unit director; Charles Cochand, grandson of Charles MacLean; Mel Campbell, warden of Leeds/ Grenville; Maggie Wheeler, hospital communications officer; and David Henderson, Mayor of Brockville

On October 24, 2020, Brockville General Hospital moved patients from the Garden Street site to the new Donald B. Green Tower. The tower was part of the Hospital's Phase 2 Redevelopment Project.

The Project consolidated all inpatient programs and services, including those offered at the Garden Street site, under one roof. Our Inpatient Rehabilitation, Integrated Stoke Unit, Complex Medical Management, and Palliative Care programs were all relocated to the new tower.

The tower was designed with the latest in hospital design and environmentally-friendly building materials. 80% of patient rooms in the tower are single-occupancy to allow for more comfort and better infection control measures.

Pictured: The Donald B. Green Tower, circa 2020

On September 27, 2024, Brockville General Hospital and SDI Canada unveiled Ontario’s first Prefabricated Modular MRI Cassette® at a joint ribbon cutting ceremony on hospital grounds.

The prefabricated modular building houses the hospital’s new Siemens Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Scanner and supporting spaces, as part of the hospital's diagnostic imaging department.

This marked SDI's third installation in Canada using this groundbreaking solution that enables hospitals to expand their treatment capacity while minimizing disruption to existing operations. The advanced technology allows hospitals to create the secure environment necessary for operating medical equipment, like an MRI, without affecting other hospital activities.

Additionally, the prefabricated modular design accelerates the installation process compared to traditional construction methods. Built in a controlled environment, the modular building ensures superior quality control, resulting in a faster, more reliable implementation.