[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/history_healthcare_1.jpg” caption=”David and Dorothy Richardson, re-enacting William and Elizabeth Beattie, admire the new History of Health Care in Hamilton wall located in the McMaster University Health Sciences Centre, west corridor of the second floor, between the red and purple sections. Photo credit: Chantall Van Raay”]Health care in Hamilton has ranged from its first municipal hospital for homeless typhus patients in 1848 and the home of Canada's first internationally renowned physician, William Osler, to the creation of the world-class Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine.

A permanent gallery on the History of Health Care in Hamilton was installed Wednesday at the McMaster University Medical Centre, with pictures and detailed descriptions of the places and people who have made important advances for the care of Hamilton area citizens.

“Health care is the foundation for our standard of living. It is the foundation of our economy,” said John Kelton, dean and vice-president, Faculty of Health Sciences, and dean of the Michel G. DeGroote School of Medicine.

“How we treat people who are sick and vulnerable is a measure of our society, although, it must be admitted that there have been, in the past, stories of concern and warning for the future. That is the value of knowing our history.”

William Beattie, a Kilbride physician from 1870, made a surprise visit at the opening with his wife Elizabeth Beattie. The couple is played by David Richardson and Dorothy Richardson. Richardson, a retired Dundas family physician who practised from 1967 to 2000, has been instrumental in running the museum of the Hamilton Academy of Medicine, and talks about the days of medicine past at the Westfield Heritage Village.

The gallery is a permanent collection which will be refreshed with more pictures and stories on a regular basis. It is located in the McMaster University Health Sciences Centre, west corridor of the second floor, between the red and purple sections.
There is also an online version of the History of Health Care in Hamilton gallery at www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/history.

(Pictured in the bottom photo at yesterday's event, from left, are David and Dorothy Richardson, re-enacting William and Elizabeth Beattie, Anne McKeage, health sciences library archivist, Wynn Bensen, volunteer, and John Kelton, dean and vice-president, Faculty of Health Sciences. Photo credit: Chantall Van Raay)