Dr. James MacNeill (March 24, 1873 – July 1, 1945) was the first superintendent of

Saskatchewan Hospital Saskatchewan Hospital North Battleford (SHNB) is a public psychiatric hospital in North Battleford, Saskatchewan. It is owned by the Government of Saskatchewan and operated by the Saskatchewan Health Authority. The facility has 284 beds in total, ...

North Battleford North Battleford is a city in west-central Saskatchewan, Canada. It is the seventh largest city in the province and is directly across the North Saskatchewan River from the Town of Battleford. Together, the two communities are known as "The Batt ...

for mentally ill patients in the province of

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

. He was born in

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

, educated at

Prince of Wales College Prince of Wales College (PWC) is a former university college, which was located in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. PWC merged with St. Dunstan's University in 1969 to form the University of Prince Edward Island. PWC traces its his ...

and

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...

, where he received an MD degree in 1901. He practiced in

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

and then moved to

Hanley, Saskatchewan Hanley is a town in Division No. 11 in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is located 65 km south of Saskatoon. The town's population in 2011 was 522. It was named after Hanley, Staffordshire, England, by early founders. It is also the seat for the r ...

in 1906 where he practiced as family physician until 1912. He was

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to the Saskatchewan Legislature in

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as a Liberal member until 1913. He traveled to

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and the

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in 1913, where he studied the administration mental hospitals for his new role as the medical superintendent of Saskatchewan Hospital. He served in this position until 1945. At Saskatchewan Hospital, he changed the organization and program delivery from that of a prison and asylum to that of a modern (for the time) mental health hospital. He valued moral therapy - the use of productive work for its therapeutic value. During his tenure, a farm project and golf course were built on the hospital grounds. He established a 2-year attendant training program in 1930 and at the Weyburn Mental Hospital, where the province's second mental health hospital was built in 1921. His other contributions were reform of housing for the mentally handicapped in Saskatchewan and building of the Moose Jaw Training School. He died shortly following his retirement in June 1945. He had received an honorary degree from the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

in 1941. The child and youth mental health clinic in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway, and has served as th ...

was named MacNeill Clinic from the 1950s to 1994, when the

Saskatoon Health Region The Saskatoon Health Region was the largest health region in Saskatchewan, Canada. Primarily based in the city of Saskatoon, the health region operated out of 75 facilities, including 10 hospitals, 29 long term care facilities, and numerous prim ...

absorbed all community mental health services into Saskatoon City Hospital and

Royal University Hospital Royal University Hospital, often abbreviated RUH, is one of four hospitals in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. It is located on the University of Saskatchewan campus. RUH is a teaching hospital and closely tied to the College of Medicine within the uni ...

References

External links

Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan, mental health services
* Smith, Colin (1971) A History of the Saskatchewan Hospital North Battleford. Published by the University of Saskatchewan.
Canadian hospital administrators People from North Battleford 1873 births 1945 deaths McGill University Faculty of Medicine alumni Physicians from Saskatchewan {{Canada-med-bio-stub