Heritage in the Hat: Victoria Nurses’ Home

By Malcolm Sissons on February 22, 2020.

Once upon a time, Medicine Hat was the premier medical centre between Vancouver and Winnipeg! It had the only hospital, taking in the first patients in 1890. The medical complex grew to include a maternity hospital, a nurses’ residence, a clinic and a morgue. Two nurses, Miss Reynolds and Miss Birtles, did the nursing, but also the cooking and cleaning for the 20-bed hospital.

Dr. Calder identified a need for more trained nurses and so a training program was established in 1894 and the first two nurses graduated from the Medicine Hat General Hospital School of Nursing in 1896. Not just anyone was eligible to become a nurse; criteria included age, between 25 and 35, references, good health and moral character (regular church attendance and no boisterous behaviour). Nurses also had to visit patients in their homes and if necessary, do their chores for them, although it is not clear if that included milking cows and mucking out stables.

Initially, the nurses resided on the top floor of the hospital where the isolation cases were also kept. There was the slight problem that the nurses were becoming ill so fund-raising for a separate residence started in 1899.

Land donated by CPR for medical purposes was available east of the hospital on Main (Second) Street. Designed by architect Charles S. Roche, the two-storey red brick and sandstone building with a gabled roof was built in 1904 by Morris and Trimble for a cost of $6,814. Mrs. Nicholson, president of the Women’s Hospital Aid Society, which had raised $1,800, laid the cornerstone, with an official opening a year later, on June 9, 1905. Attendees were expected to bring gifts of cash or linen. The Victoria Nurses’ Home (named after Queen Victoria) was open!

In 1912, an east wing was added by architect and builder Hotson and Leader. The roof of the original building was modified to a mansard style to allow the top floor to be fully utilized. There was now accommodation for 36 nurses. Entrance columns and a frame porch were added in 1919. A further increase in size took place in 1930 when a three-storey west wing was added by builder Gordon Coulson. This doubled the building in size and included a dining room.

Major change occurred in 1957, when a new Nurses’ Residence was constructed beside the new hospital. The hospital-based nurse training program continued until 1971, for a total of 716 nurses trained over the years.

The city acquired title to the residence in 1959 and converted it to offices. By the 1980s however, there were discussions about demolition of the building to make way for a new police station. Despite Alberta Culture’s willingness to designate the historic building, in 1987 the west wing was demolished, and council voted to take down the original Victoria Nurses’ Home in 1990. Today, there is no vestige of what was once the West’s most important medical complex.

Malcolm Sissons is a former member of the Heritage Resources Committee of the City of Medicine Hat.