The Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) (french: Hôpital Royal Victoria), colloquially known as the "Royal Vic" or "The Vic", is a hospital in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada. It forms the biggest base hospital of the

McGill University Health Centre The McGill University Health Centre (MUHC; french: Centre universitaire de santé McGill) is one of two major healthcare networks in the city of Montreal, Quebec. It is affiliated with McGill University and is one of the largest medical complex in ...

(MUHC), which is affiliated with

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 ...

. The hospital was established in 1893 and was based at

Pine Avenue Pine Avenue (french: avenue des Pins) is an east–west street in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. This street serves as the dividing line between the downtown Ville-Marie borough and borough of Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, and also serves as the northern ...

, now known as the Legacy site, until 2015, when major hospital operations were moved to the Glen site (1001 Décarie Boulevard), named for the former Glen railway yards. The future uses of the Legacy site are now under study and it seems likely that the site, which is adjacent to its main campus, will be taken over by McGill University.

History

The Royal Victoria Hospital was established in 1893 in the historic

Golden Square Mile / ''Mille carré doré'' , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Neighbourhood , image_skyline = Ravenscrag.jpg , image_alt = , image_caption = '' Ravenscrag'', built for Sir Hugh Allan ...

through donations by two public-spirited Scottish immigrants, the cousins Donald Smith, 1st Lord Strathcona, and George Stephen, 1st Lord Mount Stephen. In 1887, they announced a joint gift of C$1,000,000 for the construction of a free hospital in

and purchased a site on

Mount Royal Mount Royal (french: link=no, Mont Royal, ) is a large intrusive rock hill or small mountain in the city of Montreal, immediately west of Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The best-known hypothesis for the origin of the name Montreal is the ...

for a further C$86,000. The site they bought was the old

Frothingham Frothingham is a surname, which may refer to: *Alice Wilson Frothingham (1902–1976), ceramics curator at the Hispanic Society of America in New York. * Arthur Frothingham (1859–1923), an early professor of art history at Princeton University. * ...

estate that covered ten acres of land. During 1897 and 1898, Smith and Stephen gave another C$1,000,000 between them in Great Northern Railroad securities to establish an

endowment fund A financial endowment is a legal structure for managing, and in many cases indefinitely perpetuating, a pool of financial, real estate, or other investments for a specific purpose according to the will of its founders and donors. Endowments are of ...

to maintain the hospital. Stephen and Smith attached one caveat to their generous contribution to the City of Montreal: the hospital's land and its buildings must only ever be used for healing.Elspeth Angus interviewed by the Montreal Gazette
/ref> The founders intended the Royal Vic "to be for the use of the sick and ailing without distinction of

race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

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. Over the years, the philanthropy and business acumen of many of the residents of the

- the prominent members of Montreal's English speaking community - brought the hospital global recognition as a major centre of healthcare and learning. Major contributors included James Ross, Richard Angus, Sir Vincent Meredith and

Sir Montagu Allan Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Hugh Andrew Montagu Allan, (October 13, 1860 – September 26, 1951) was a Canadian businessman and philanthropist. He was the principal heir of his father, Sir Hugh Allan, and became deputy chairman of the family-owned A ...

. In 1920, the hospital became a medical research institute through the

McGill University Faculty of Medicine The Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences is one of the constituent faculties of McGill University. It was established in 1829 after the Montreal Medical Institution was incorporated into McGill College as the college's first faculty; it was t ...

. In 1929, Dr.

Wilder Penfield Wilder Graves Penfield (January 26, 1891April 5, 1976) was an American-Canadian neurosurgeon. He expanded brain surgery's methods and techniques, including mapping the functions of various regions of the brain such as the cortical homunculus. ...

established the

Montreal Neurological Institute The McGill University Health Centre (MUHC; french: Centre universitaire de santé McGill) is one of two major healthcare networks in the city of Montreal, Quebec. It is affiliated with McGill University and is one of the largest medical complex in ...

adjacent to the hospital. Among the list of medical achievements at the Royal Victoria was the first successful kidney transplant in the Commonwealth in 1958. It was achieved by a team led by nephrologist

John Dossetor John Beamish Dossetor, (19 July 1925 – 6 April 2020) was a Canadians, Canadian physician and bioethicist who is notable for co–coordinating the first kidney transplant in Canada and the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth. Biography Bor ...

and surgeons Joe Luke and Ken MacKinnon. Today, the Royal Victoria Hospital is part of the

. Amid the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, the hospital is currently being used as an isolation unit for homeless people who have been infected with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), as well as those awaiting test results.

Legacy site

The hospital was previously housed in a building complex at 687

on the slope of

in the borough of Ville-Marie. Hospital operations moved to the new Glen site of the

on April 26, 2015, except for the McGill Reproductive Centre and the Dialysis Clinic, which remained at the original site as of 2015. Of its nine pavilions, three date from the original 1893 hospital and were designed by

Henry Saxon Snell Henry Saxon Snell (4 April 1831 – 10 January 1904) was a noted architect who specialised in health facilities and designed many London hospitals and other public buildings. He was the author of two significant architectural books: ''Hospital Co ...

in the

Scottish baronial Scottish baronial or Scots baronial is an architectural style of 19th century Gothic Revival which revived the forms and ornaments of historical architecture of Scotland in the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. Reminiscent of Scot ...

style. The nearby

Allan Memorial Institute The Allan Memorial Institute (AMI; french: Institut Allan Memorial), also known colloquially as "The Allan", is a former psychiatric hospital and research institute located at 1025 Pine Avenue West in Montreal, Quebec. It is situated on the sl ...

continues to house the psychiatry department. The post-2015 future of the 122-year-old Royal Vic building is yet to be determined.

has unveiled an idea to repurpose the hospital for academic purposes, but also add community and green space. The original hospital was designed by the Scottish architect

, who from the 1860s had made a name for himself in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

as a leading specialist in the design of hospitals, particularly in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Constructed of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

, the original Royal Vic is distinguished by its crenelated structures and romantic turrets framing generous sun porches at the corners of its imposing medical and surgical wards. Snell's aesthetic plans for the Royal Vic were inspired by the

style of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. From a medical perspective, his design of the Royal Vic was influenced by the ideas of

Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War, i ...

as a ''

Pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings: * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

Hospital,'' in which the separation and isolation of both patients and diseases were thought to discourage the spread of infection. The original part of the building was completed in 1893. The hospital was later enlarged by the addition of new wings of the same architectural style. The H pavilion opened in 1905 as the nurses' residence). The 1920s saw the addition of the Women's and Ross Memorial pavilions. Another expansion was completed in the early 1950s giving the hospital its M and S pavilions; a portion of the original hospital was demolished to accomplish this. Lastly the C pavilion, housing the emergency room, birthing centre, and a large modern ICU opened in 1993. A time capsule is located in the wall facing the C pavilion's elevators on the ground floor.

Hersey Pavilion

The Hersey Pavilion, also known as the H Pavilion, was one of the first purpose-built nurses' residences in Canada. It is located on the hospital campus, and was constructed in 1905. It was designed by the well-known Montreal architects Edward & William Sutherland Maxwell. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1997 in recognition of the important role the building played in the training and professionalism of nurses in Canada.

Pool

The hospital had an outdoor pool and patio located between the Hersey pavilion and

. As of 2014, the pool is closed until further notice.

Notable surgeons

Sir Thomas Roddick Sir Thomas George Roddick (July 31, 1846 – February 20, 1923) was a Canadians, Canadian surgeon, medical administrator, politician, and founder of the Medical Council of Canada born in Harbour Grace, Newfoundland and Labrador, Harbour Grac ...

, first Surgeon-in-Chief of the Royal Vic *

Edward William Archibald Edward William Archibald (August 5, 1872 – December 17, 1945) was a Canadian surgeon. Archibald was born in Montreal, Quebec, and received his initial education in Grenoble, France. Upon returning to Canada, he attended McGill Univers ...

, dubbed Canada's first

neurosurgeon Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and peri ...

; President of the

American Surgical Association The American Surgical Association is the oldest surgical organization in the United States. History It was founded in 1880. Their publication, ''Annals of Surgery'', was started in 1885. A collection of the association's papers are held at the Nat ...

*Lt.-Colonel

John McCrae Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae (November 30, 1872 – January 28, 1918) was a Canadian poet, physician, author, artist and soldier during World War I, and a surgeon during the Second Battle of Ypres, in Belgium. He is best known for writing the ...

, Royal Vic physician who wrote ''

In Flanders Fields "In Flanders Fields" is a war poem in the form of a rondeau, written during the First World War by Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae. He was inspired to write it on May 3, 1915, after presiding over the funeral of friend and ...

'' * Norman Bethune, developed a mobile blood-transfusion service during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

OM, CC, CMG, FRS, founded the

; called "the greatest living Canadian" in his day. * Martin Henry Dawson, the first person in history to inject penicillin into a patient, 1940 * Arthur Vineberg OC, developed the 'Vineberg Procedure' at the Royal Vic in 1950 *

Kathryn Stephenson Kathryn Lyle Stephenson (July 30, 1912 – October 18, 1993), was the first American woman to be a board-certified plastic surgeon and the first woman to be editor of the journal ''Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery''. She contributed significan ...

, the first female American

plastic surgeon Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction or alteration of the human body. It can be divided into two main categories: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. Reconstructive surgery includes craniof ...

; first female editor of ''

Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery ''Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal and the official publication of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. It covers all aspects of plastic and reconstructive surgery Reconstructive surgery is surgery p ...

'' *

OC, co–coordinated the first kidney transplant in both

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and the Commonwealth, 1958 * Balfour Mount OC, considered the father of

palliative care Palliative care (derived from the Latin root , or 'to cloak') is an interdisciplinary medical caregiving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Wit ...

in North America. * Jonathan Larmonth Meakins OC, Royal Vic Chief Surgeon; 4th person & 1st Canadian Nuffield Professor of Surgery at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, 2002

Notable nurses

* Mabel Clint, war-time nurse who served with the Canadian Expeditionary Force during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in France, Belgium, and Greece.

References

External links

* Annmarie Adams, Medicine by Design: The Architect and the Modern Hospital, 1893–1943. University of Minnesota Press, 2008.
Photograph: Aerial View of the Royal Victoria Hospital circa 1925. McCord MuseumPhotograph: Royal Victoria Hospital circa 1918. McCord Museum
{{authority control Hospitals in Montreal Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Organizations based in Canada with royal patronage Hospitals established in 1893 Hospital buildings completed in 1893 Scottish baronial architecture in Canada Mount Royal Gothic Revival architecture in Montreal McGill University buildings