Opening of the first Montreal General Hospital with 24 beds
The growing needs for health care and to build an additional hospital led to several charities, like the Female Benevolent Society of Montreal and the Society for the Relief of Immigrants. In 1819, enough money was raised to build a new hospital. The Montreal General Hospital spirit, like depicted on this photo, was to build a “Hospital without regards to race or creed".
Founding of McGill University
The oldest university in Montreal, McGill was founded in 1821 from a generous bequest by James McGill, a prominent Scottish merchant.
Founding of Department of Surgery with John Stephenson first Professor of Surgery
John Stephenson began began his medical training with William Robertson in 1815. He enrolled at the University of Edinburgh in 1817 and graduated with a medical degree in 1820. His thesis, entitled "De velosynthesi", describes a procedure performed on him by another surgeon, one of the first successful repairs of a cleft palate.
In November 1822, he and Andrew Fernando Holmes wrote a memorandum recommending the establishment of a medical school. Once approved by their colleagues, the memorandum was sent to the Governor-in-Chief, Lord Dalhousie [Ramsay]. The new school, called the Montreal Medical Institution, opened in the fall of 1823, with Stephenson as professor of anatomy, physiology and surgery. He was also given a position that was to become of considerable importance in the following years: that of secretary to the faculty.
Montreal Medical Institution incorporated into McGill College to become Canada’s first university medical faculty
The new McGill College received its royal charter from King George IV in 1821. However, the College was soon in danger of losing its charter because, though it had appointed a principal and a few figurehead professors, it hadn’t actually managed to form a faculty in any subject.
Meanwhile, the Montreal Medical Institution (MMI), a proprietary medical school established in 1823 by four Montreal General Hospital (MGH) physicians, could issue medical licences to its graduates but couldn’t grant medical degrees because it had not obtained a royal charter. In a mutually beneficial arrangement, McGill College and the MMI merged in 1829. The MMI became the College’s first faculty, and the MGH, from which the MMI had sprung, McGill’s inaugural teaching hospital.
Successful use of chloroform anesthesia reported by Andrew Fernando Holmes
Andrew Holmes was one of the first to use anesthesia in Canada when he gave chloroform to relieve a patient suffering painful labour
Thomas Roddick introduced and promoted antiseptic surgery
Thomas George Roddick attended the Model and Normal Schools in Truro, Nova Scotia and graduated from the Medical Faculty of McGill University in 1868 with the highest honours, winning the Holmes Gold Medal and Final Prize. From 1868 to 1874, he was Assistant House Surgeon at the Montreal General Hospital.[2] In 1872, he was appointed Lecturer on Hygiene at McGill University. He was appointed a Demonstrator of Anatomy in 1874 and in 1875 was named Professor of Clinical Surgery. Earlier in 1877, Roddick traveled to Edinburgh to witness Joseph Lister's medical antiseptic system.Roddick returned to Montreal later that year and introduced Joseph Lister's antiseptic system, primarily his 'carbolic spray,' revolutionizing the way medicine was practiced in Montreal's Hospitals. In 1894 Roddick, with the aid of fellow specialist James Bell, created the Department of Surgery and became the first chief surgeon of the Royal Victoria Hospital.[5] However, by 1901 Roddick found himself no longer able to practice surgery, having become allergic to the new antiseptic replacing the carbolic acid he had introduced to Montreal, iodoform. He was instead given the position of Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University from 1901 to 1908, where he could contribute to medicine without practicing surgery.[7] In subsequent years Roddick would play an instrumental role in the creation of the Medical Council of Canada as well as establishing a common system of examinations for students graduating with medical degrees in Canada.
Royal Victoria Hospital opens
The Royal Victoria Hospital was established in 1893 in the historic Golden Square Mile through donations by two public-spirited Scottish immigrants, the cousins Donald Smith, 1st Lord Strathcona, and George Stephen, 1st Lord Mount Stephen.
The founders intended the Royal Vic "to be for the use of the sick and ailing without distinction of race or creed," and when it opened in 1893 it was hailed as the "finest and most perfectly equipped (hospital) on the great American continent".The hospital originally had 150 employees, including 14 medical doctors.
Edward Archibald
Edward Archibald appointed 1st chairman of the McGill Department of Surgery and established surgical research centre. Was President of the American Surgical Association in 1935.
St-Mary’s Hospital opens
St. Mary's Hospital was founded in 1924 by Sister Helen Morrissey and Dr. Donald A. Hingston. First a 45-bed institution located at Shaughnessy House (now the Canadian Centre for Architecture) in the Shaughnessy Village neighbourhood of Downtown Montreal, it has since moved to its current location in 1934 where it has 271 beds.
Jewish General Hospital opens
The Jewish General Hospital, was founded as a general hospital, open to all patients regardless of race, religion, language or ethnic background.
Among many other medical innovations, the JGH was one of the first hospitals in Canada to open a division of colorectal surgery.
Arthur Vineberg, forerunner of coronary artery bypass grafting
Arthur Vineberg is known for having developed a surgical procedure called the "Vineberg Procedure" which involved implanting the left mammary artery into the left ventricle of the heart.
First successful kidney transplant
First successful kidney transplant in commonwealth (between identical twins) performed at RVH by Dr. Joe Luke (vascular surgeon) and Dr. Ken MacKinnon (Chief of Urology).
To know more about kidney transplant at the MUHC nowadays: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jctAlKon4pw
Dr. LD MacLean began his tenure as Surgeon-in-Chief at the Royal Victoria Hospital
Dr LD MacLean began his tenure as Surgeon-in-Chief at the RVH, a post he held until 1988. He was Chairman of the McGill Department of Surgery from 1968 to 1973, 1977 to 1982 and from 1987 to 1988. He was the Edward W. Archibald Professor, Department of Surgery, McGill University from 1987-1993. He was also Surgeon-in-Chief at the Royal Victoria Hospital from 1962 to 1988.
Dr LD MacLean was a Professor of Surgery at McGill for more than a quarter of a century. During this time, he made significant contributions in the study of shock, peritonitis, host resistance, transplantation and extended our understanding of the effectiveness of surgery for obesity.
Dr. Noelle Grace. First female surgeon
“She has been a pioneer for women in Canadian medicine. After obtaining her medical degree from the University of Western Ontario and training at McGill University, she was the first women to graduate from General Surgery residency at the Montreal general Hospital. She then became the first female pediatric surgeon in our country’s history.
As a surgeon working primarily with young children and their families, Noelle set herself apart by demonstrating compassionate, child-centered care. She empathizes with her patients and their families, physically embracing children who need comfort, and making herself available outside of working hours to ensure that a child recovers from surgery.”
Minimal Invasive Surgery
First laparoscopic cholecystectomy ushers in the era of minimally invasive surgery
Founding of the MUHC
Founding of the MUHC through merger of the Montreal General Hospital, the Royal Victoria Hospital, the Montreal Children's Hospital, the Montreal Neurological Hospital and Institute, and the Montreal Chest Institute
Opening of the Glen site
The MUHC underwent an historic transformation and the biggest hospital move in Canadian history, when three of its founding hospitals (Royal Victoria Hospital, the Montreal Children’s Hospital, and the Montreal Chest Institute) were transferred to a brand new healthcare complex located on the site of the former Glen rail yards in Notre Dame de Grace
Dr. Liane Feldman: appointed first female Chair, Department of Surgery, McGill University and Surgeon-in-Chief, MUHC
Dr Liane Feldman is the Edward W. Archibald Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery at McGill University and Surgeon-in-chief at the McGill University Health Centre.
For complete biography please see the following link.