Category: Exhibitions & Galleries

Museum of Health Care marks moment in time with COVID-19 update

December 12, 2022

The Museum of Health Care at Kingston has updated its popular Vaccines and Immunization gallery to reflect the latest innovations in vaccination technology. Vaccines and Immunization: Epidemics, Prevention, and Canadian Innovation was first installed in 2013. Developed with Guest Curator Dr. Christopher Rutty, and funded in part by the Kingston and United Way Community Fund, … More Museum of Health Care marks moment in time with COVID-19 update

Museum hosts event celebrating the 125th anniversary of arrival of x-rays in Kingston

November 22, 2021

On Tuesday, November 16th the Museum of Health Care was pleased to host a virtual event celebrating the 125th anniversary of the arrival of x-ray technology in Kingston.

Presented by the Department of Diagnostic Radiology at Kingston Health Sciences Centre, the presentation included a history of x-ray technology from 1896 to present. … More Museum hosts event celebrating the 125th anniversary of arrival of x-rays in Kingston

A Trip Down Memory Lane

November 8, 2018

What is the purpose of a museum? To help people understand the past? To show items that most people would not see? To preserve and display articles from the past so that we can better understand our present? To give a fuller picture of how life used to be? A museum can be all these things, but a museum, especially one with a more modern focus, can be so much more. … More A Trip Down Memory Lane

A Necessary Public Service to Uphold: Kingston General Hospital and the Hospital Funding Crisis of 1867

December 14, 2017

The loss of KGH’s annual grant from the newly formed government in 1867 not only greatly impacted the hospital, but the Kingston community as well. Recognizing the growing value and importance of the hospital to the community, KGH’s Board of Governors and members of the community rallied to save the hospital at this critical juncture in the history of health care in Canada, when the idea of supporting public hospitals was still in question. … More A Necessary Public Service to Uphold: Kingston General Hospital and the Hospital Funding Crisis of 1867

Laudanum: Freedom from Pain for the Price of Addiction

July 20, 2015

On Canada Day, the Museum of Health Care unveiled a new exhibit entitled “A Stubborn Illness” about the health of Sir John A. Macdonald and his family. When I first toured the gallery I was struck by the intriguing medicine prescribed to Sir John A. Macdonald’s first wife, Isabella Clark. Visitors seemed to share my sentiment and several have inquired why laudanum is no longer a popular treatment. Further investigation of laudanum and Isabella’s relationship with it reveals that though the drug provided pain relief, its side effects and risks far outweighed its benefits. … More Laudanum: Freedom from Pain for the Price of Addiction

Voluntary Veil: The Canadian Voluntary Aid Detachment in the First World War

February 26, 2015

Before the mid 19th century, women had a discreet but ever-present role on the battlefield, mostly as camp followers. When women such as Florence Nightingale started to demonstrate the value of military nurses, armies began to slowly, but surely assign them to their medical services. … More Voluntary Veil: The Canadian Voluntary Aid Detachment in the First World War

Vaccines and Immunization: Epidemics, Prevention, and Canadian Innovation

November 25, 2013

There is significant public debate over the merits and risk of vaccinations, much of which is fueled by inflammatory rhetoric rather than facts and science.  This debate has raged ever since the first vaccine for smallpox was proposed by Dr. Edward Jenner in the 1790s and, doubtless, it will continue as new vaccines are developed.  … More Vaccines and Immunization: Epidemics, Prevention, and Canadian Innovation