90th anniversary flashback: Lady Davis Institute opens in 1969

As the JGH’s 90^th anniversary approaches, JGH News today looks back at: 

• Launch of the Lady Davis Institute in 1969
• Canada’s first ombudsman appointed in 1973
• 1974 merger creates the Herzl Family Practice Centre
• Nurses’ original residence in the 1930s 

Four new archival items appear every Tuesday in the 90 days leading up to the 90^th anniversary on October 8. Everything that’s been published so far can be found in the JGH News archive.

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In 1969, the Lady Davis Institute opened at the JGH and went on to become one of Quebec’s leading facilities for medical research in such fields as cancer, clinical epidemiology, molecular and regenerative medicine, and the psychosocial aspects of disease.

Among those present for the groundbreaking of the Lady Davis Institute on April 16, 1968, were (from left) JGH President Sam Steinberg; Dr. Norman Kalant, Director of the LDI; and Bernard Bloomfield, President of the LDI’s Board of Directors.

Research had actually been one of the pillars of the JGH since the 1940s, with medical leaders, administrators and the Board of Directors all recognizing the crucial role that innovative investigation could play in improving the treatment and care of patients.

Unfortunately, facilities for research were scattered throughout the hospital, and projects were not always conducted in ideal circumstances.

By the 1960s, determined to launch a research institute, the JGH secured funding through a large gift from the Eldee Foundation and grants from the federal and provincial governments.

Ground was broken on April 16, 1968, and the facility opened the following year. It was named in tribute to the late Lady Henrietta Davis, C.B.E., who had established the non-profit Eldee Foundation several years earlier.

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Canada’s first patient representative appointed at the JGH

The JGH made national healthcare history in February 1973 with the appointment of Kathleen Margaret (“Peggy”) Lahaie as what is believed to be the first patient representative (ombudsman) in a Canadian hospital.

In the official announcement, the public was told that Mrs. Lahaie “will be accessible to all patients in the Hospital, to hear whatever comments they may have to make in respect to the care received here. Necessary steps will then be taken, as required, and the patients kept informed.”

In an interview several months after her appointment, Mrs. Lahaie said that in addition to looking into complaints and conducting surveys about the quality of care, she often met with patients simply to offer words of solace and compassion in moments of stress during hospitalization.

Previously, Mrs. Lahaie had been Public Relations Director of Montreal’s Windsor Hotel.

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The JGH merges with its predecessor in family medicine

Brochure published by the Herzl Health Centre in the 1960s.

For more than 60 years during the 20^th century, countless patients received vital health care in what was originally known as the Herzl Dispensary and later renamed the Herzl Health Centre. But by the mid-1970s, its time as an independent facility was at an end, as a result of its merger with the JGH.

The Dispensary opened in 1912 primarily to treat the many impoverished Jewish immigrants who were arriving in Montreal. However, the Dispensary also welcomed patients of all backgrounds, and this policy of non‑discrimination served as a model for the JGH, which opened in 1934.

For decades, Herzl continued to provide a wide array of services, but by 1970, it was overcrowded and unable to keep up with the demand. In addition, the JGH and Herzl were increasingly offering overlapping services to an overlapping clientele.

The logical consequence was an agreement in 1974 to merge the two institutions. Herzl became, in essence, the JGH’s Department of Family Medicine, known initially as the Herzl Family Practice Centre. As a result of a generous donation during the centennial in 2012, it was renamed the Goldman Herzl Family Practice Centre.

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Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home for JGH nurses

Working as a JGH nurse in the mid- to late 1930s (the first years of the hospital’s existence) was a challenge for all sorts of reasons. But even relaxing away from the workplace was no great comfort.

In that era, some nurses lived on the JGH property in a residence whose accommodations can best be described as spartan. Nevertheless, complaints were few. It was an era when sacrifices were made by all members of staff to ensure that the newly opened hospital had every chance of surviving into the 1940s and beyond.