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.
This Doors Open event features two types of tours – outdoor walking tour and a special inside tour peeking at the galleries and the collections rooms! All tours are FREE to the public. … More The Museum Doors Open for Doors Open Kingston 2021
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Lister took this knowledge and combined it with the observation that carbolic acid was already being safely used to clean sewers and dress wounds, and in 1865 he created a new, aseptic method of surgery using carbolic acid to sanitize the operating room. … More The Story of Joseph Lister and his Carbolic Acid Sprayer
The Story For centuries, mothers have used a number of tools to relieve the pain of engorged breasts, correct inverted nipples, and increase milk production. Some of the first breast pumps were found at Greek archeological sites dating from the 6th to 5th centuries BCE. These dual purpose feeding bottles and breast pumps, called guttus, … More Sucking Glass (From the Collection #28)
The Story Used by a new mother after the birth of a child, the postpartum binder was meant to restore the figure and keep the womb in its correct position. She wore the binder for 10 days after the birth and changed it daily. The midwife or physician bound up the post-partum woman by wrapping … More Scultetus Binder (From the Collection #29)
The Story For centuries, mothers have used a number of different tools to relieve the pain of engorged breasts, correct inverted nipples, and increase milk production. Women in Ancient Greece used ceramic cups called gutti (dual purpose pumps and feeding bottles) to express milk. A mother would fill the cup with water, place it over … More Breast Pump (From the Collection #30)
The Story Found in homes and hospitals, bedpans and urinals are practical aids for bedridden persons who cannot get up to use a toilet. Over time ‘male’ and ‘female’ designs evolved that increased a patient’s comfort and ease of use. Until the mid-twentieth century, student nurses training in hospitals had the necessary, but unpleasant job … More Female Urinal (From the Collection #27)
A graduate of the Queen’s College of Medicine, Dr. Locke opened his practice in Williamsburg, Ontario in 1908. After successfully treating a blacksmith for severe arthritis, his reputation began to spread. By 1932, he was treating around 2000 patients every day! … More The Story of Dr. Mahlon Locke and his Arthritis Treatment
Janet Parker was the last person in the world to die from smallpox in 1978. She was working as a scientific photographer above one of the labs at Birmingham Medical School. The lab was working with smallpox and Parker contracted the disease on August 11th. She would die a month later.This event shook the world not only because the last smallpox case in the UK was 5 years prior, but because smallpox was on its way to being confined to the history books. … More Smallpox – A Short History of Vaccination (Part 2)
With the help of two research assistants, Dr. Reed developed a flu vaccine from the bacteria in naso-pharyngeal swabs of people infected with the Spanish Flu. … More The Story of Dr. Guilford B. Reed and his Influenza Vaccine
