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The Huron Expositor, 1968-10-31, Page 9ospital Began With Scott Brothers Gift (Historical notes concern- ing Scott Memorial Hospital were contained in a brochure prepared on the occasion of the opening a new wing, Wednesday, June 30. 1948.) dition of the people served by the hospital. Following discussions with officials of the Department of Health, an addition of 27 -bed capacity was tiecided on, and In the spring of 1947 a portion Scott kediorial Hospital, of the former RCAF hospital which has served 'Seaforth and ',building at Port Albert was pur- district since that day in Sp 7 chased, to provide materials ..tember, 1929, when its doors for the new wing, Design of were thrown open to the public, the wing was governed to a had its beginning in 1921, when great extent by the nature and as he result of a bequest by the Size of the materials available. late Willlam and Matthew Scott, The Board entered into the pioneer Tuckersatith farmers, 'conitrucdon progratn on the the sum of $40, 000. 00 was be; strength of assurances by the- • qeathed for the purpose.of est. Minister of Health that provin- ablishing and maintaining a alai grants on the basis of hospital in or near Seaforth. $1, 000. per bed, plus an During the years preceding amount to be determined to the opening of the Hospital, an provide for a modern nursery, .. organization was established, a would be made available. To charter obtained and negotia- this %vat' athied a grant of tions entered into whereby a $25, 000. from the County of private hospital, operated. byHuron. , • -- .the lateA. A. McLennan, was Ai -construction progressed, purchased. In 1921 the then certain qualifications were in - Hospital Board purchased the 4 troduced by the Department, former D. D. Wilson residence particularly in respect of alter - on James' Street from W. E. ations, which the Department Southgate, and commenced al- considered essential in the ex- , terations and improvements to isting hospital. .the building. • • 6 The regulations relating Charter members of the • to the payment of grants were Board were;• N. H. Golding, amended, to relate the aniount chairman; J. W. Beattie,. G. P. of the provincial grant to the Cardno, W. A. Crich, G. D. over. -.:all cost of the building, Haigh, James Cowan, Mrs., J. F. rather than on a straight per Daly, Mrs. R. S. Hays, Mrs. W. bed basis, as originally had . G. Willis, W. J. Duncan, F. been agreed on. Economies Holmstead, K. C. , A. D. Suth- practised by the Board result- erland and George Turnbull. To ed in the cost of the addition .the industry and foresight of being held to approximately these citizens is due the splen- $2,500. pet bed, as compared did hospital facilities, which to a Province -wide average of through the intervening years nearly $10, 000 per bed. The have been available to the( Provincial'grant as finally paid people of this district. totalled $25, 000. Scott Memorial Hospital Once the decision to build was.officially opened to the had been arrived at, responsi- public on October 22, 1929, bility for construction was plao , when Thos. Inglis, Warden of ed in the hands of a building Huron County, turned the key, , committee, including Dr. E, admitting those attending the A; McMaster, chairman; J. ceremony to the building, M. Scott, N. R. Dorrance, In the years since that day Ross MacGregor, G. C. Bright - the history of the hospital has rail and A. Y. McLean, who been one of increased service to worked through L. F; De La- the community, as indicated by franier, appointed by the the steady year -by -year in- committee as construction crease in patient days. superintendent. The manner During the late thirties,. it inwhich he to-ordinated the became apparent that improved various trades involved and accommodation for the 'nursing expedited„the materials ne- staff was essential, and in 1940 cessary, resulted in the rapid the former Johnson residence, to construction. • the east of the hospital, • was . a frame and brick con - purchased and converted to a sanction, with a slate robf, nurses' residence. ' Necessity for increasing the hospital capacity, from its orig- inal 23 beds, became acute,in 1946, when the patient days for that year rose to 8,209, with an average daily population of 22. Contributing to this condition was an increase in the usage of hospital insurance and the gen- erally increased economic con - the adclition'which was fully insulated, provides 5, 000 feet of floor space and made possible 27 additional beds. In this number, were three private rooms, three semi -private rooms, one four -bed ward, two five -bed wards, and two two - bed solaria. . A full basement made room, storage space and ult- imately the X-ray department and emergency ward. In arriving at a decorative scheme for the wing, consid-, eration was given the arrange- ment which would prove most beneficial to the patients who would use.the rooms. This led the board to adopt individ- ual decorative schemes for each room, in each of which the color chosen is carried throughout the entire.furnish- ings. • While construction of the wing was financed by grants re- ceived from the County of Huron and Province of Ontario, the cost Of providing furnishings and decorating, estimated at approximately $13, 000; was not_ covered by these sources. Curling Ed9rly Favorite Interest in "the roaring game" has, in the last few years, grown rapidly. All across the country people are taking up the game. School children are playing with -jam cans filled with cement and new curling rinks are being built. Bu?lcurling was also one of the•early sports in SeafOrth. It was natural -that it should be popular. The area was heavily populated by Scots. Popularity also stemmed from the fact that it was a sport in which everyone participated. Here is a report from The Expositor, Oct. 24, 1879. '" • "At the annual meeting of the Seaforth Curling Club the following officers were elected for the winter, 18'79-80:Patron, Sir Richard Cainiriglit; Presid- ent, J. R. Lyons; Vice -Presid- ent, James Hatt; Representative members, D. D. Wilson and Dav- id Walker, Secretary and Treas- _ • urer, M. R. Counter;Committee or council of management -Wm. Box, Alex Davidson, J. A. Wil- son, Robt. Fulton, A. M. Camp- bell. Skip - J. R. Lyons, Jas. • Hatt, Charles Wilson; D. D. Wilson, R. Fulton, John McIn- tosh, J. A: Wilson, A. B. Halby. Anyone desirous of joining the club will kindly give their names to the Secretary, M. R. Counter. We are glad to learn that the two clubs have been amalgamated, and there will hereafter, be only one curling club in Seaforth, and that wlll be a good One." Seaforth Community Hospital Congratulates The,Town of Seaforth on its 100th Birthday and looks forward to progressing with the town and continuing to make available modern hospital facilities- for the people of Seaforth and District THE $11140141. XP0$1-YOR, SBAIFORTI1, QNT. OCT. 3L 11411-40 SEAFORTH COMMUNITY HOSPITAL Opened' in 1965 Modern Hospital Serves Commun Planning for the new Sea - forth Community Hospital began in 1958 when it became apparent that the existing Scott - Memorial Hospital building no longer was able to cope with in- creasing demangs for patient aceommodat StieCuudertaken at that time indicated that the alter- ation or enlargement of the 80 - year -old building, which was the central core of Scott Mem- orial Hospital, was neither eco- nomical or practical. Thus the decision to provide a new hos- pital on a new site was taken. • Following studies by the board's 6onsultants, the siJte on which Seaforth Community Hospital now.stands was se- lected as being the most suit- able among those available. In 1960 this site, then in McKill- op Township, was purchased and at the suggestion of the Board and with the co-operat- ion of McKillop, was annexed by Seaforth to permit the eas- ier provision of seivIcei. With the purchase of the site, detailed studies of arch- itectural and functional as- .. .. pects were commenced by ar- chitects Barnett & Rieder-Hyrn- men, and hospital planning consultants Agnew, Peckham &„ Associates Ltd. • At the same time the board considered financial re- quirements, and in November 1962, a campaign for funds was launched. In subsequent Stage Problems A 'letter. of complaint app- ears in The Expositor of Aug. 19, 1870 about the management of •the Seaforth to Wroxeter stage The writer copplains that the stage drivers stop at every tavern along the route and "dism u o nt to liquor -up", adding "Passengers are continually sub- ject to abuse. The driver smok- es incessantly and the smoke goes directly into the eyes of the passengers." Apparently stage coach dri- vers also failed to give pass- engets any change., The writer says "I have seen a polite re- quest for correct change 'met with down right insult and the passenger was told in an insol- ent way, to take what he was offered or " Looks like Seaforth was .almost as wild:and woOly as the Old West. Hallowe'en 11869 Style months the fund objective of $195, 000. 00 was met. In- creasing costs, however, re- sulted in a requirement for additional monies, and'as a result the campaign fund con- tinued in an active state. At this time, too, action was begun to change the name of the hospital from Scott Memorial Hospital to Seaforth Community Hospital, since it was considered this more accur- ately reflected the degree to which the community made possible the new hospital. The change in name became effect- ive at the time the new build- ing was occupied. . Construction of the new building got underway in July. 1964, and the first patients were admitted. to the hospital on September 14, 1965. The general contractors were W. A. McDougall Ltd. , of Lon- don, and the contr,,act was ,for • $800, 000. 00. This, together with atc-hiteotsfees, site; , furnishings altd equipment, has resulted in a total project cost in excess of $900, 000.00. Contributing to •the 'eon - 'sanction -program were Federal grants totalling $123,380. 00, Provincial grants of $262,981. , and a Provincial loan of $170, 000. 00. In addition, the County of Huron contributed 'a$19i6,tie0s0b0a. v0e0 paanrdti,acriepamteudniciinp- making available maintenance grants. "This noted day, and with which are associated so many ancient customs, appears to be getting sadly degenerated. The homely and innocent custonis of nut -burning and rape -seed -sow- ing have, around this part of the country at least been substituted by such mischievous pranks as carrying away gates, changing signs, etc. and on the whole instead of HalloWeen now being a season to be anticipated with pleasure, it is one that Is only to be looked for with a species of -small dread, save to street - loafers and bad boys." Many adults like to bewail the activities of youth and the cry "Okwhat is the younger gen- eration coming to" has always been, and will always be, very common: Some of the things former generations criticized about youth now seem a bit silly. Take for example, this account of Halloween 180 in the Nov.3 Wile of The Expositor in that year, Seivrces, including street, sewers, street lights, hydro and water, were provided by the Town of Seaforth and the Sea - forth Public Utility t ommiss- ion. • The site selected met all essential requirements and per- mitted a compacecOntempor- ary hospital, designed on two levels in order to take full ad- vantage of the slopinvontours. Brings Wimbleton Prize to Canada One who stood out in the sports history of Seaforth was - Alexander Wilson. From the late 1870's until theVO's he competed in provincial and dominion rifle matches and re- presented Canada several,times at the international matches at Wimbleton, England, There too he showed superior skill. In 1880 and 1881 he won top prizes' in several sections of the con- tests. In 1888 he was again at Wimbleton. The Expositor re- ported his success on July 20. "Another Seaforthite is distinguishing himself abroad. Since his arrival at Wimbleton, Staff Sergeant Alex Wilson, of the 33rd Battalion, has been 'doing •xcellent work as a mark- . sman, and seems destined to do his share of keeping up the cred- it of the Canadian team. He has won several valuable prizes. On Tuesday, in competition for the London Corporation prize for Indian and Canadian volun- teers, he stood at the head of the list with a score of 320, winning the prize of 30 guineas and a cup. The second score was 315 and the lowest 284. In the aggregate to which the Canadian _Challenge Trophy is attached, Sergeant Wilson also won 5 pounds with his score of 320. We expect more triumphs from him_yet.." When the first war broke out Lt. Col. Wilson, as, he was then, commanded the 33rd.reg- iment. Selling his drug busin- ess - now Keatings Pharrnacy - Col. Wilson took the regiment On active service. The hospitafis positioned se that patient rooms have an excellent view of'the surround- ing countryside from the hill, - top location. The dining area on the lower level, commands an equally pleasant view. _ The over- all design utilizes the principal of the -double Corridor plan which in one nursing un't- : permits the segregation of the medical and surgical, matern- ity, children and long-term patients by locating their rooms 1 on either side of, a double cord- • dor nursing work core. Each de- partment and service has been ' located to afford the best patt- ern of interdepartmental, horiz- ontal communication; each 1s internally designed to permit future horizontal enlargement without extensive renovation to existing space.. Thus there is • provision i.x future expansion. The selection of materials for a hospital requires cateful attention to detail andto the peculiar requirements of such a building. Economy, perman-. —enee-,- cleanliness and•ease of maintenance were the main con- sideration in material selection.. The layout of the building and size of various areas was •the result. of long and careful development with hospital con- sultants, and the Hospital Serv- ices Commission, requiringcon- sultant revision of sketch plans. The result is a functional build- ing, carefully planned to meet the needs of a growing commun- ity. ON YOUR 100th BIRTHDAY SEAFORTH WE ARE PROUD TO BE A PART OF THE SEAFORTH COMMUNITY AND THROUGH OUR MODERN FACILIT- IES CONTRIBUTE TO THE ECONOMIC WELL-BEING AND GROWTH OF THE AREA.. UNITED DAIRY - PRODUCERS CO-OPERATIVE GAY- LEA PRODUCTS SOUTH MAIN STREET SEAFORTIL (MAIM t.;