Hospitals

Modern cities need a wide variety of services, but no service is as important as a city’s hospitals. Lethbridge has had many different hospitals throughout its history. Two major hospitals have played an important role in the life of the city. The Lethbridge Regional Hospital, which was made up from Lethbridge Municipal Hospital and the Galt Hospital, and the St. Michael's Hospital, which was an offshoot of the Van Haarlem hospital.

P19870010095-GA Forceps used by doctors in stomach and intestinal procedures. These forceps date back to the 1920's.

In 1891, Sir Alexander Galt founded the Galt Hospital. It was placed on the site of the 3-bed Terrace Hospital, which had been built in 1886. The city took over the Galt Hospital in 1903. In 1909, Elliott Galt and the city issued a $60 000 grant to build a brick addition which would increase the hospital's capacity to 65-beds. In 1910, Sir Wilfrid Laurier officially opened the new part of the hospital. Later that year, the Galt Hospital also opened its School of Nursing. The Galt Hospital received another upgrade in 1929 when room for 35 more beds and an elevator was added. Even with these additions, Lethbridge's two hospitals (the Galt Hospital and St. Michael’s Hospital) were becoming overcrowded by the end of World War II. The Galt Hospital board got approval from council to select a new site and prepare plans for the construction of a modern 150-bed hospital. On February 6, 1947, Lethbridge voters approved a $700 000 grant to build a new hospital east of the old building. But, because of high costs and an unsafe building site, the project was stopped.

P19870010092-GA, A metal syringe used in the hospital during the 1950's

The people of Lethbridge had to wait another five years for a new hospital. In April of 1952, Lethbridge tax payers voted to construct a $2.8 million, 187-bed hospital. At this time, it was discovered that the Galt Hospital location was not a good location for the construction of large buildings because of the old mine shafts located under the hospital site. The hospital board purchased 14 acres of land on 9th Avenue South, one block east of the St. Michael's Hospital, to build a new hospital. The Lethbridge Municipal Hospital was finally opened in May of 1955. The Galt Hospital continued to function as an auxiliary hospital and a home for the chronically ill. It later became a nursing home. Today, the old Galt Hospital building is part of the Sir Alexander Galt Museum.

P19694925001-GP Sir Alexander T. Galt, the man after whom one of the first hospitals in Lethbridge was named.

St. Michael's Hospital was created in June of 1929 when the Sisters of St. Martha purchased the Van Haarlem Hospital and renamed it St. Michael's Hospital. The Van Haarlem Hospital was set up as a two-bed maternity hospital by Mrs. Elizabeth Van Haarlem in 1909. The hospital started in the Van Haarlem home and grew to house 27 beds, an operating room, bio-chemical lab, and a physiotherapy room by the time the sisters purchased it. In August of 1929, the city set aside $300 000 and bought nine lots at 9th Avenue and 13th Street South to build the new 100-bed St. Michael's Hospital. After opening on September 8, 1931, St. Michael's Hospital grew and its own nursing school opened. It operated until 1996 when the large, modern facilities at the Lethbridge Regional Hospital made the services at St. Michael's’s unnecessary. The hospital was closed and the building torn down in summer of 1996.