The Museum of Health Care (MHC) shows how Canadians have preserved health and managed disease, pain and suffering. The Museum strives to connect visitors of all ages with the experience of people in past times and provide context and perspective on today's health issues. Our blog is regularly updated with interesting and insightful entries by MHC staff and volunteers. Learn more about who we are and what we're working on. We welcome your feedback and comments.
If you ever wanted to be a part of history, this is your chance! The Museum of Health Care at Kingston is issuing a nation-wide call, urging all Canadians to share their personal COVID-19 stories in an effort to lay the foundation for a future COVID-19 Collection at the Museum. … More Museum of Health Care calls for personal stories from Canadians affected by COVID-19
The Story Medal set belonging to Nursing Sister Ann Baillie (1888-1942), ARRC, who enlisted with the Canadian Army Medical Corps in 1915 and served overseas in Egypt and France as a member of No. 7 (Queen’s) General Hospital. This set includes, from left to right: the Royal Red Cross, Class 2 (ARRC) awarded on 1 … More Nursing Sister’s War Medals (From the Collection #20)
The Story In the 1800s medical students and physicians often kept lecture notes and practical information in small bound notebooks. This particular volume contains handwritten recipes for medications, financial accounts, and personal comments. This book is also important for its association with its first owner. Dr. Jennie Gray Wildman (c 1863-1953) is a member of … More Physician’s Treatment Book (From the Collection #19)
The Story More than 4000 women served as military nurses during the Second World War playing a vital role in the care and comfort of wounded soldiers, sailors, and airmen. As commissioned officers known by rank and title as Nursing Sisters, they served as fully-integrated members of the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps, the Royal … More Nursing Sister’s Military Uniform (From the Collection #17)
The Story Cherry Ames is the central character in a series of 27 mystery novels with hospital settings published by Grosset & Dunlap between 1943 and 1968. Helen Wells (1910-1986) wrote volumes 1-7 and 17-27, and Julie Campbell Tatham (1908-1999), wrote volumes 8-16. During the Second World War, the series encouraged girls to become nurses … More Cherry Ames, Student Nurse [Novel] (From the Collection #18)
The Museum of Health Care is issuing a call to all Canadian hospitals, local public health agencies,museums and community members to assist in building a COVID-19 collection. We are seeking COVID-19 medical related items to be donated to our collection to help memorialize and archive the lived experience of this 21st century pandemic. In addition, … More Support the Museum of Health Care’s efforts to memorialize the Canadian COVID-19 Experience: The COVID-19 Project
As the days turned to weeks and weeks into months the hallowed emails reading “in these unprecedented times” grew to become the norm. But, besides what we, individually, remember about those first few “unprecedented” weeks, what have been the most important markers in the pandemic for Canadians? … More COVID-19 In Canada: A Timeline
As Canada’s foremost resource for medical and health related artifacts, the Museum of Health Care was a natural choice to aid with the project. With a collection of over 40,000 items, some of which are the last of their kind, and Collection Manager Kathy Karkut’s extensive experience, Historica was sure to present a historically correct depiction of the events leading to the miraculous discovery. Historica provided Kathy with a list of images of selected medical items they were using for the video for her review. Kathy was then able to provide the correct version for these items from the Museum’s 1915 medical supplies catalogue and images of similar items in its collection. This provided Historica with the framework to locate the correct medical items suitable to a ward at the Toronto General Hospital in 1922. … More News Release–Museum of Health Care at Kingston contributes expertise to new Heritage Minute
Each year, the Museum of Health Care welcomes applications it’s Margaret Angus Research Fellowship, a project focused on sharing the history of health and health care from dedicated research done by a selected candidate. The Museum of Health Care is happy to welcome Savannah Sewell to the position of Margaret Angus Research Fellow for 2021! … More Margaret Angus Research Fellowship 2021: Introducing Savannah Sewell!
The Story First undertaken in 1935 by Portuguese neuropsychiatrist Dr. Antonio Egas Moniz, leucotomy involves the removal of brain tissue from the pre-frontal lobe in order to treat psychoses. His initial approach was improved upon with the use of a leucotome, invented by Canadian neurosurgeon Dr. Kenneth G. McKenzie in the 1940s. The leucotome is … More Leucotome (From the Collection #15)
