Calgary General Hospital Number Four Opens its Doors
by Deb Lee – CGH Commemoration Project
The population of Calgary continued to slowly increase over the 1930s and 40s. The General Hospital’s new Perley Pavilion (named after a major donor) had added 250 beds in 1944 but this number was not sufficient to serve the growing health care needs of Calgarians so waiting lists grew. By 1947 the City, who owned and administered the hospital, gained the approval of the ratepayers of Calgary for $3 million to build a new Calgary General Hospital in Bridgeland.
Under the leadership of new hospital administrator Dr L.O Bradley, it took several years of planning and construction before the hospital was ready to open its doors. This modern seven storey building, with three separate wings would accommodate 582 patients.
The new Calgary General Hospital Number Four opened on March 3, 1953, an exciting day for the City. Both the Calgary Albertan and Calgary Herald newspapers had multi-page coverage. Articles marvelled at the modern new facility with features like permanent curtains between beds (rather than movable screens), air suction-based mop shakers and garbage chutes built into the walls between floors. Outlets for oxygen and carbon dioxide were installed in the walls at the head of each bed. Ward rooms now had a maximum of six beds. The entire second floor was devoted to children’s care. Lab, X-ray, and operating rooms were all in one wing and a new outpatient department was located on the main floor. Purchase of an electrocardiograph machine and mobile X-ray machine allowed for progressive diagnostics to be completed. Providing heat to the buildings was a steam-based power plant with three foster Wheeler boilers which were reputed to be clean and very efficient.
These features may not seem like much to us these days, but they truly reflected the major advances and rising standards for health care that were occurring in the 1950s. The penicillin ‘wonder drug’ and various surgical advances were changing the trajectory of health care. These advancements also came in to use before the days of Medicare. Patients at CGH Number Four paid for their hospital stays – $8.25 per day for a ward bed, $10.50 for semi-private and $13.00 for a private room, plus additional fees for any required surgical operations. But these costs were a hardship for lower income Calgarians.
Lieutenant-Governor JJ Bowlen officiated at the March 3 ceremony for Calgary’s big new hospital, with Mayor McKay and many of Calgary’s influential people attending. A symbolic golden key, donated by Birks Jewellers, opened the door to the hospital. The Nurses choir sang “Bless this House”. Following the ceremony, there were tours of the building, led by members of the CGH Nurses Alumni. A buffet supper in the cafeteria, hosted by members of the Women’s’ Auxiliary completed the event. Over the next few days, tours throughout the new hospital were arranged for 20,000 Calgary residents. Everyone was very proud of their new hospital. It was a memorable time and soon afterward, the big job of transferring patients from the old hospital to the new began.
Dr. Bradley had a bigger vision for health care services beyond CGH Number Four and laid out his master plan in five steps. Stay tuned next month to find out what happened next at ‘The General’.
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