Wayback Wednesday, sponsored by Jamie Lockwood, broker/owner of Sutton Group Muskoka Realty!
Huntsville Memorial Hospital, on the Muskoka River, Huntsville, Ontario, 1951.
Given that community ‘chats’ are happening throughout the region this week about a future healthcare model being proposed by Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare (which manages both the Huntsville and Bracebridge hospital sites) as it plans for the construction of two new sites, we are revisiting some of that history.
In 1947 a committee was struck to plan for the Huntville Memorial Hospital which opened its doors in 1949 with 26 beds on Mill Street in Huntsville, operated by the Canadian Red Cross. Three years later, the Red Cross handed over control of the Huntsville Memorial Hospital to the Huntsville Hospital Corporation. In 1955 a chronic care wing was added and in 1963 a brick addition was added.
In 1967 the hospital took over the private ambulance service and in 1969 a third floor was added. By the 1970s it was recognized that the hospital needed to expand and a new site was chosen.
On June 2, 1978, Huntsville District Memorial Hospital opened at 100 Frank Miller Drive where it continues to exist today. The former Red Cross hospital underwent a renovation to reopen on August 14, 1982, as Fairvern Nursing Home, which is currently being rebuilt on a new site with additional beds.
Over the years, there have been renovations and additions to Huntsville District Memorial Hospital to accommodate new equipment and expand patient care areas, programs, and services. The Emergency Department was renovated in 2010-2011, and the Dialysis Unit and Medical Device Reprocessing Departments were renovated in 2013-2014. In 2014-2015, a new CT Scan Suite was constructed and a new CT Scanner was acquired. In 2018-2019, two secure rooms were created in the Emergency Dept.
This information has been compiled from Fifty Years in Huntsville, by Jack Laycock, c1966, Huntsville With Spirit and Resolve, by Susan Pryke, c2000, and information by Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare (MAHC).
About MAHC from its website:
Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare was created as a multi-site healthcare organization in 2005 through the amalgamation of South Muskoka Memorial Hospital in Bracebridge and Algonquin Health Services which operated Huntsville District Memorial Hospital.
In 2006-2007, MAHC signed a formal affiliation agreement with the Northern Ontario School of Medicine.
In 2006-2007, the Regional Stroke Program was initiated, and the Huntsville site was designated the District Stroke Centre.
In 2007-2008, the Regional Complex Continuing Care (CCC) program was established, and MAHC was named the lead agency with program-related beds at the South Muskoka site.
In 2009-2010, the Burk’s Falls & District Health Centre was divested by MAHC and the building was turned over to the Village of Burk’s Falls.
MAHC is currently in the process of rebuilding both the Huntsville and Bracebridge hospital sites – in Huntsville, on existing lands, and in Bracebridge, on new lands.
See more Wayback Wednesday photos HERE.
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