In 1906 Sir William Macdonald purchased and presented to the hospital the triangular piece of land between it and the river to the east, at a cost of $7,141.35. In 1908 the late Sir R.G. Reid built and equipped a very necessary observatory pavilion at the cost of $12,568.82. A nurses’ home is at present being erected to the west of the administration building, of fireproof construction, at a cost of about $56,000, including equipment, which will bring the total expense of the hospital building up to $360,000. The patients admitted from January 1, 1913, to December 31, 1913, numbered 1,036.
The Hôpital St. Paul, a section of Notre Dame Hospital, receives Catholic and the Alexandra Hospital, Protestant patients. The city pays each one of these institutions annually $35,000 for thirty-five beds a day, and $1.00 a day in addition for each patient above the contracted number.
TUBERCULOSIS DISPENSARIES
The Royal Edward Institute
In this city it is not quite twelve years ago since the first organized effort against the ravages of the “white plague” was initiated by the formation of the Montreal League for the Prevention of Tuberculosis. At a meeting held in the Art Gallery on November 29th, 1902, under the auspices of the Governor General, Lord Minto, resolutions were passed calling for combined effort on the part of the government, the city authorities, and public-spirited citizens to relieve the miseries associated with this infection and to check its spread. A committee was appointed at that time, but not until June, 1903, was work actually commenced in a small room in Bleury Street.
The establishment of a sanatorium in the near neighbourhood for the treatment of incipient cases, and of a hospital for the treatment of the more advanced and hopeless cases, was at first proposed; but after consideration it was felt that the expense of maintaining institutions sufficiently large to cope with the requirements of the city would involve an expense far beyond what the community could be reasonably expected at that time to contribute, so a beginning of work was made by the establishment of a dispensary, November 1, 1904, and the employment of what has been termed the dispensary method for reaching the tuberculous poor. It is a method which has been gradually developed in Edinburgh under the guidance of Dr. R.W. Phillip, and in France by Calmette, and which has been adopted with much success in Philadelphia. The method emphasizes the importance of disseminating a practical knowledge regarding the spread, development, and course of the disease among the poor, and is based upon two facts; first, that it is not necessary for patients in the early stages of tuberculosis to leave their homes to be healed, and, second, that patients can be educated so to comport themselves as to be of little danger to those around them. Montreal is one of the first pioneers in purely tuberculosis clinical institutions, the first established by Doctor Phillip in Edinburgh in 1887, being followed in 1903 by Calmette in Lille, and by New York and Montreal in 1904. Making use of this plan it has been the aim of the executive board not only to attend to the wants of such cases as may apply to the dispensary, but to co-operate with the medical profession throughout the city, both in hospital and private practice. All physicians are invited to report to a central station cases of tuberculosis occurring in their practice which cannot be fully treated by them. These cases are tabulated and arranged according to the district in which they live; each patient is visited at his home by an inspector or nurse; full instructions, both written and verbal, are given regarding the mode of life to be followed to secure the greatest advantage to the patient and the greatest security to those around him.
An interesting exhibition dealing with all phases of the crusade was organized in October, 1908, and was visited by over 50,000 persons, including the older children attending the public schools. Addresses were given by eminent speakers and an attempt was made to reach all clasess of our citizens and interest them in the measures necessary to ensure health, and check the spread of this infection. This movement in public education has led the way to subsequent health exhibitions in the city, notably the Child Welfare Exhibition of 1912.
Later an appeal was made to the Lieutenant-Governor-in-Council to appoint a Royal Commission to inquire into the conditions in this province favouring the spread of tuberculosis and to ascertain the best methods of checking it.
With the growing work of the League, the urgent need of more room to meet the necessities of its dispensary work, and the desirability of a large central station, where a resident staff of nurses could be continually in attendance, was forced upon the executive. At this juncture, a philanthropic citizen, the late Lieut.-Col. Jeffrey H. Burland, came forward with his very generous offer of $50,000 from his sisters and himself as a contribution in memory of their father and mother, to be applied towards the purchase and equipment of a suitable building, on the condition that the general public would contribute an equal amount to serve as an endowment sufficient to cover the annual expenses connected with the maintenance of its efficiency. This condition has unfortunately not yet been fulfilled; as only $36,000 has been subscribed, nevertheless, Colonel Burland impressed with the urgency of the League’s need acquired in May, 1909, the very central and commodious detached building, No. 47 Belmont Park. This with much judgment and care he had altered and enlarged to suit the possible requirements of the dispensary work for many years to come, and to serve as the headquarters of the League’s work in Montreal. No dispensary building like this one with its bright sun parlours and large roof garden exists anywhere; and it is hoped that its advantages may not only prove to have much practical benefit for the consumptive patient, but also have an educational value for the general public.
The whole equipment has been very carefully studied and all the arrangements made with the view of securing the greatest efficiency at the minimum of running expense.