Christmas Greeting/Postcard from 1911 NWPL#3186
We wish all our readers a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy New Year.
Please check back here in the new year for new posts. In the meantime, grab a cup of coffee and browse through back posts either by date, or by topic. Check the categories on the right to find posts in your area of interest.
There are few if any departments at any hospital that do not depend on laboratory services to be able to function safely, efficiently and effectively. But “laboratory services” have changed dramatically over a relatively short period of time.
The function of laboratory services was first provided at the Royal Columbian Hospital in 1918, but it was not done on site. Mr. Gooding, a bacteriologist, was contracted at the rate of $30 per month, and worked at his laboratory at the Public Hospital for the Insane. His lab work consisted primarily of analysing specimens using only a few test tubes, reagents and a microscope.
The lab at Royal Columbian Hospital itself began in 1920 in a vacant room in the basement of the 1912 building. Mr. Louis A Breun was appointed as Chief Bacteriologist to manage the laboratory, X-ray and pharmacy departments with the assistance of one technician – Miss Isobel Barr.
Sixteen years later, the following article appeared in The British Columbian, Royal Columbian Hospital 75th Anniversary Edition, 1937.
“Fine Laboratory Built Up During 16 Year Period
One of the proudest assets of the Royal Columbian Hospital is the up-to-date laboratory, started with a few test tubes 16 years ago by L.A. Breun, chief bacteriologist and gradually built up by him into the very complete and efficient department it is today. It is the lab that diagnoses thousands of cases by testing blood, tissues or fluids taken from a sick patient.
Mr. Breun is assisted by Miss I. Barr, technician, and shortly the laboratory will be expanded and the quarters doubled. The basal metabolism department will be extended and Mr. Breun will be given additional assistants.
The laboratory may handle between 650 and 800 cases every month, some specimens requiring numerous special tests.
Since the laboratory was started, Mr. Breun has handled 32,023 pathological tests. These are not the routine tests, which run into a large number more. In the past five years, the number of monthly tests made in the lab have doubled. Besides tests for germs and tests of cultures, Mr. Breun does section work, such as studying tissues for cancer and so forth.
In addition to all sorts of pathological and routine hospital tests the department makes any tests required by the city department of health, such as tests of milk and water and for infectious diseases.
In 16 years the department has gradually acquired a fine array of microscopes, culture incubators and similar equipment. Mr. Breun has also accumulated an unusually complete range of pathological exhibits and a fine library.”
As the hospital grew, so did the need for a histological department and in 1948, Dr. P.S. Rutherford became the first permanent pathologist at RCH. He had a staff of 8, including himself, 6 technologists and 1 stenographer. Eventually, in 1952 the lab moved from the basement to the top floor of the old wing of the 1912 building, and included a training school for technologists.
The concept of a Regional Laboratory Service was introduced in the mid-50s, and the role of a lab technologist began to change with automated equipment and computers becoming a standard part of the work.
Would Adrian Breun or Isobel Barr recognize any of the equipment in a hospital laboratory today? What would they make of the partial list of procedures available from Outpatient Laboratory Services at Royal Columbian Hospital that includes “blood and urine collection for chemical analysis to determine glucose/lactose tolerance, cholesterol level, HDL/LDL and triglyceride level, and blood gas analysis; sweat chlorides, bone marrow testing, H. pylori breath tests, fine needle aspirates, coagulation testing and endocrine simulation tests?
Diane Oberg RCH Lab Technologist 1998
They might well wish that they could have been part of the exciting and complex world of laboratory medicine of 2012, but without the groundwork they and others did in the first half of the 20th century, none of today’s services would be possible.
They would certainly have been impressed if they had seen the full double rainbow on December 4, 2012 clearly indicating that RCH really is worth its weight in gold!
Double rainbow Dec 4, 2012 over Royal Columbian Hospital. Courtesy of A Sense of History Research Services.
A couple of weeks ago we posted several photos from a photo album of Royal Columbian Hospital events in the late 1980s and 90s, and asked if anyone recognized the people in them. We had an overwhelming response and many requests for more photos.
Here are a few from the same album. It’s amazing how many of the people in the earlier photos are still around – maybe some in these are too.
This one is the only one fully captioned, so we know it’s Dr. Gittens showing some of the neurosurgical equipment in March of 1998, but we don’t know what the event was.
This was taken at the official lab opening January 21, 1997, but there’s no name given.
And this is just captioned MRI 96 10 01, so we assume it was the opening of the MRI unit we described in a post here in October.
The following 2 photos are from the Surgery Open House Day December 01, 1991 and obviously represent Plastic Surgery and Orthopedics respectively, but we don’t have the names of the doctors.
This last image was taken at the celebration of the 15th anniversary of the RCH Foundation in 1993. Just can’t work for a foundation without being an expert at serving at cake!
Again, if you know any of these people, or can add details of the event shown, please share your comments.
The Canadian Health Information Management Association (CHIMA) celebrated its 65th anniversary in 2007.
CHIMA represents more than 3,700 certified Health Information Management (HIM™ ) professionals from across Canada in addition to 1,300 affiliate, student and retired members. HIM professionals are employed in hospitals; in the community health and extended care sectors; government; health and education institutions; the private sector including insurance and pharmaceutical companies; technology vendors; and consulting firms. The skills and knowledge of the HIM professionals support clinical research and provide information for medical and health care statistics. But this area of health care is relatively new.
In 1913, the American College of Surgeons was founded with the goal of enhancing the quality of surgery performed through better surgical training. To standardize the training performed, quality health records were deemed an essential factor. In the 1920s, Royal Columbian Hospital had difficulty with case history reports and medical record keeping to the extent that in 1922, it was removed from the list of standardized hospitals. By 1931 RCH, along with ten other BC hospitals, regained “approval” by the American College of Surgeons, based on what the College described as “competent medical staff keeping accurate and complete records of all cases”. However, because of a shortage of both funds and trained staff to organize and maintain medical records, RCH again lost its “approved” status.
Probably as a direct result of the inability to obtain and keep accreditation, RCH instituted a Medical Records department in 1949 with the appointment of Mrs. Ruth Melby as Chief Medical Record Librarian.
During the following year, she established a cross index based on the standard classification of disease and operations, as well as numbering and filing medical records by the unit system. The next year, the hospital purchased a dictating-transcribing machine for the use of medical staff and 75% of admissions had type-written histories. Mrs. Melby could now state in the annual report, “with the accumulation of two years of cross indexing of diseases and operations, statistics are now available for the first time for any physicians who wish to carry out medical research projects.”
In 1954, RCH was approved for training by the Canadian Association for Medical Record Librarians and the school, the 7th in Canada, opened September 26, 1954. Four students began classes the following year after arrangements had been made for them to receive their training in anatomy and physiology with the student nurses. The Vancouver Sun of May 16, 1956 published the following article describing the school and the careers it made possible.
“UNIQUE SCHOOL IN ROYAL CITY
Hospital authorities aren’t just being nosey when they ask you all those questions. The fact that you’re allergic to artichokes might help someone engaged on an important research project. First of its kind in BC, a school for medical record librarians at Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster trains people to make use of all the information a hospital collects.
After a 52-week course, graduates are equipped to make quantitative analyses of medical records, to classify, code and index diseases and operations, to prepare statistical, medical, insurance and Blue Cross reports and to do research for doctors and medical associations.
In session now, with the first graduation ceremonies scheduled for August, the school opens up new job opportunities for those who qualify as trained specialists in the profession of medical record science. There is a big demand for medical record librarians in hospitals throughout Canada and the US, with the result that posts are plentiful and starting salaries, approximately $250 a month. Based on requirements of the board of registration of the Canadian Association of Medical Record Librarians, the course of training is divided into two parts, Junior and Senior, with one week’s vacation at Christmas. During the first three months most of the student’s time is spent in practical training. Classes commence in September and January and hours are from 9 to 4 weekdays and 9 to 12 on Saturdays. Lectures are given by members of the hospital’s medical record department staff and School of Nursing instructors. Guest lectures also are given by members of medical record departments of other hospitals in the greater Vancouver area.
On successful completion of the course, graduates receive a diploma and pin and become eligible to write Canadian registration examinations. When they have passed these exams, they are privileged to write RRL(Registered Record Librarian) after their name.”
A Medical Record Librarian from the Regina General Hospital who had graduated from the RCH school, described her career in glowing terms, “No two days are ever the same”, she said. Her daily work included analyzing medical records, classification, coding and indexing diseases and operations, statistical and medical reports and research work for medical associations and doctors. “One of the advantages of being a medical record librarian is that you know you are serving others – patient, doctor and hospital.”
In light of the opening of the new Multipurpose Interventional Suite this week, it interesting to look back a mere 16 years to another major new piece of technology. In June 1996 some pretty dramatic images recorded the installation of a $2.3 million Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) unit planned to improve diagnostic services at Royal Columbian Hospital.
A Royal City Record/NOW article explained that MRI is a non-invasive imaging technique that produces cross-sectional pictures of the head, body and spine without the use of X-rays or radioactive materials. MRI uses strong magnetic fields and radio frequency waves; a computer processes the signal information and displays it as an image on a video screen.
On June 4, a 90-ton crane helped hoist the 22,000 lb magnet into the hospital, where it would be housed in a specially protected room in the Medical Imaging department. The magnet had a magnetism of 10,000 gauss (the magnetism of the earth is 0.5 gauss).
Workers, above and below, position the machine as they attempt to move it into RCH.
Source: Royal City Record/Now June 5, 1996.
RCH, the referral hospital for diagnostic services for all residents of the Fraser Valley, would then be the only hospital in the Fraser Valley with the MRI service. The first patient was scheduled to be scanned on September 3, 1996.
The renovations for the MRI room and support areas cost $513,000, which was shared by the Ministry of Health (60%) and the Greater Vancouver Regional District (40%). The MRI equipment cost $2.3 million, with the Ministry of Health contributing $1.38 million and the RCH Foundation contributing the remainder.
New two-storey medical wing of Royal Columbian hospital hides the ancient original building from view of passersby on East Columbia street. The new building was erected in a nine-month crash program to replace a structure dating back to 1912 and now condemned as a fire hazard. Entrance is at far right. Photo from The Columbian Oct 6, 1971
The long-awaited modernization program of Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster takes its first tangible step tomorrow with the official opening of a new building for medical patients, constructed in a crash program from factory-built modular components.
The Modular Building, as it is named by hospital authorities, will accommodate 153 adult patients and 21 children for a total of 174.
The accommodation is to replace an ancient structure first built in 1912 and now condemned for hospital use by fire officials. A major portion of the 1912 building is to be demolished and eventually equipped for Royal Columbian’s role as the principal referral hospital of the lower Fraser Valley.
The modular building, though considered temporary, and designed to be dismantled and moved to some other community in the future, is nevertheless completely and well-finished and equipped. It has a full basement, with storage, heating, garbage and laundry-handling facilities, and two nursing floors. It is connected to the permanent buildings by two covered walkways, for comfortable movement of patients, staff and meals. It has some private rooms, but the majority of patients will be housed in nine to 12-bed wards, with the usual movable drapes to give privacy to each bed when required.
Comfort of the patients is assured by new and up-to-date beds and other furnishings. Each bed has its own lamp, hooded to prevent glare in the eyes of other patients. Each has a nurse call switch, which lights an indictor at the nursing station and over the bed. All have piped oxygen outlets, and a plug-in for cable television.
Construction started on Jan. 20 this year, after many other plans for expanding and updating the hospital had been made and turned down by regional and Victoria authorities because of cost. The modular unit system was finally chosen and approved because of speedy construction and the possibility of dismantling and moving the building at some future time. Prime contractors, Van Construction of Burnaby, built the 80 modules in the firm’s own shops, trucked them to the site, and fitted them into a steel framework erected on the basement foundation.
The majority of the modules are 10 ½ by 40 feet, and had electric wiring and piping systems installed and ready for hookup at the plant. On-site jobs included exterior cladding, roofing, flooring, installation of fixtures and trim, and decorating.
Cost came to approximately $28 per square foot for a total of $2,395,000, only slightly higher than a comparable wood frame or cement block building, and considered well worth the extra amount for the gains in time and portability.
The building is designed to accommodate patients suffering an illness, rather than those hospitalized by injuries or for surgery, who require more of the sophisticated electronic equipment for their care. The modular unit has no operating room, x-ray or cardiovascular equipment. Patients requiring treatment in thee departments will be taken to the main building through the connecting corridor.
But every facility to help provide the best nursing care has been included. Nursing stations are large, with an attached “medi-prep” room with stainless steel fixtures. They are fitted with intercom to all wards, call system and convenient storage for patients’ records. Each floor has its own food service center, with an ice-making machine, refrigerator and other facilities for serving between-meal snacks. Each floor has day rooms for “up” patients to lounge and receive visitors.
The children’s ward is at one end of the second floor to eliminate through traffic. Isolation for patients with communicable diseases is in the same location on the first floor, but has an entrance from outside for visitors, locked for control.
From related article:
The present remodelling was done in order to relocate offices, medical records, the cafeteria and other service departments housed until now in the portion to be demolished. Virtually untouched in the present program is the central building constructed in 1950, containing 235 patient beds, the operating theatres, and the trauma unit added recently.
Total patient capacity in the 1912 and 1950 wings of the hospital was 445, until remodelling forced removal of 53 beds temporarily. When the modular unit replaces the 1912 wing, capacity will be stabilized at 409. Planners speak of the possibility of topping-off Royal Columbian with a capacity of 700 in the future.
DIETICIAN RECALLS SIMPLER RCH DAYS
from New Westminster Now, 28 July 1987 p. 23
Dietician Helen Rhodes in 1987
Helen Rhodes had her work cut out, serving not only as dietician but also as hospital housekeeper – she was responsible for ensuring the window cleaners kept the 1000 windows clean. “I was alone,” said Helen, now 90, in a recent interview, “in the dietary department at the Royal Columbian, to which the housekeeping had been added. When I left in 1945 I had a secretary, two assistant dieticians and a housekeeper. We were also affiliated with the VGH in training intern dieticians. Each came to us for a month. The dieticians visited patients regularly to help them with their choice of food.
“In addition, we were the first in the district to have selective menus for the private (paying) patients. One of my first visits to a liquor store was when I went to buy wine for a French private patient. Many patients were on special diets and there have been as many changes in these as in other forms of treatment.”
In the early twenties the kitchen was very primitive: coal stoves and no power equipment. Kitchen staff worked a 64-hour week and had to report for duty at 6 a.m. No sleeping in for them. They had two weeks holiday a year, and if they had Christmas afternoons off, they worked New Year’s Day. There were no pensions, there was no trained staff, and no money for chefs. If the cook left, then perhaps a window washer or local housewife got the job.
Meat came in whole carcasses and was cut up by the gardener, regardless of his ability in this field. The Sunday ice cream was ground out by the floor-cleaner, with a hand machine.
“I had a room in the nurses’ residence. My first assistant was appointed in 1930. She was Betty Whiteside, who had been May Queen, and was Judge Whiteside’s daughter.”
Conditions began to improve during the 1930s – except that during the war years there were staff problems and shortages. “We had to make do with untrained people, some of whom, if they didn’t feel like coming to work, just stayed in bed.
“The one important aspect that stands out in my 25 years at RCH is that although the patients may not have known much about their illness or their treatment, they did know about food. So that although we were preparing institutional food, we always did the best we could with what was available.”
In 1912, when the cornerstone for the third Royal Columbian Hospital building was laid, the world was a very different place than it had been in 1889, when the second hospital was built.
During that 23 year period, antitoxins for both tetanus and diphtheria were produced for the first time, the world’s first open heart surgery was performed, the X-ray was discovered, ASA (Aspirin) was perfected, and Novocaine was introduced into clinical use. On the local hospital front, RCH and the Women’s Hospital merged, the RCH School of Nursing was established, and a maternity cottage was opened on the RCH site. In New Westminster, the first electric lights and the City’s first waterworks system came into service, regular streetcar service between New Westminster and Vancouver was established, the first local bridge across the Fraser River opened, and almost the entire downtown area was destroyed by fire.
In March 1913, Jessie Scott, Lady Superintendent, returned from her extended trip to eastern Canada to determine what equipment and supplies would be needed for the new hospital (see last week’s post). Furnishings and equipment, at a cost of $30,000, had to be ordered soon in order to be installed for the expected opening that August. The $100,000 from the Provincial Government and the $130,000 from the City was strictly for construction and could not be used for furnishings.
Fundraising activities began in earnest. There was a huge barn dance in Queen’s Park with special cars on the BC Electric Railway to bring people to the event; there were concerts at churches and at theatres, there were contests and parties, but it still wasn’t enough. In September 1913, the local paper reported that the Bank of Montreal might advance $70,000 on unsold bonds to complete construction, but that could not be used for furnishings.
The cover story on October 17, 1913 put it very starkly, “Hospital is in Quandary: Faces Necessity of Vacating Old Building But New is Not Furnished” The old hospital had been condemned. Construction crews were anxious to begin work on the remaining two wings of the new building and were pressing for the old building to be vacated so it could be razed, allowing the new construction on its site, but still there were not enough funds for furnishings, supplies and more nurses to care for the expected increase in the number of patients. Specifically, they needed furnishings for the kitchen, dining rooms, nurses’ quarters, rooms for staff and for the operating room. Individuals and societies had committed to furnish eight of the twelve private wards, and one of the five public wards would be furnished by Mr. & Mrs. P.D. Roe of Port Moody at a cost of $1,200.
A ward was furnished in the name of A Creighton
A ward was furnished by school children
Slowly the response began to build. The Red Cross Society committed to furnishing the children’s ward; other groups took on furnishing a private or public ward; companies committed to providing supplies for the private rooms. More fundraising events took place: “The Queen of Bon Ton Land” at the Opera House raised $174.05, and a Cinderella Dance at St. George’s Hall raised enough to furnish one ward. The RCH Auxiliary scandalized the town by holding a Tango Tea at the Russell Hotel at which Mrs. Lester and her partner gave exhibitions of the tango and the hesitation waltz, in spite of raised eyebrows and fears that “the morals of the nation are degenerating”. Most importantly, it raised $147 for RCH. The final goal was met when the Bank of Montreal agreed to lend the Board $10,000, giving them enough to furnish and equip the main part of the building.
A ward was furnished by Hugh Nelson
By the end of March 1914, the third car of furniture was being unloaded, and the electric fixtures and other minor elements in the new building were being installed. By April, the required connections had been made, and the paper excitedly reported that “the new hospital building will be warmed entirely by electric heaters”.
Finally the official announcement came – the new hospital would be open June 1, 1914. Almost all areas were furnished on time except the operating room, but they moved the old O.R. equipment to the new site and prepared to open anyway. The only minor hitch was having to seal up the skylights of the two operating rooms as dust and dirt was sifting down from them into the room..
Celebrations marking the formal opening of the new RCH were held May 29. There were speeches, a tea, and a dance in the evening in the main ward that was “comfortably crowded with over 100 guests”. As part of the festivities, the ever-practical Auxiliary held a “Jam and Jelly Shower” that afternoon “as the hospital is getting very short of these dainties”. “Some 100 quarts of jam were donated, plus a similar amount of jelly, a pair of flannelette blankets, two sets of books, several table clothes, tray covers and napkins, as well as small money donations.”
Only two weeks after the opening of the first two wings, the paper reported that “so many additional patients have been admitted during the past two weeks, that it is necessary to open the third floor”. Recognizing that the work of providing funds to keep the hospital operating had only just begun, groups continued to hold events, donating the proceeds to furnish other wards, hire more nurses and buy new equipment for various departments such as the brand new laboratory. It was and is a never-ending challenge, continued today by the current Auxiliary and the Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation.
“1912 Royal Columbian Hospital” – actually opened in 1914
The Hospital Board president, Mr. J.J. Johnston, described the evolution of the hospital to 1912, “I…remember the little white hospital at the corner, which was considered quite sufficient for the needs of the day. The city has grown and with it has grown the hospital. Later, when the original building was considered too small, the present building was erected, which in turn has now also proven to be inadequate to supply the needs of this growing city. The Royal Columbian Hospital as an institution stands high in the opinion of the people of this city and the surrounding district.” He thanked the various levels of government for providing funds to rebuild, but also said, “There is nothing we need and nothing more helpful than the kindly interest of the public citizens.”
He thanked Knox Presbyterian Church for committing to pay to furnish one of the private wards, which would be known as the Knox Ward, and encouraged all other churches to provide similar support.
He continued, “We are laying the corner stone of a magnificent building… but the only difficulty appears to be that already it is intimated that it will be too small. We have enlarged on the original plans, and while it was estimated that the building would cost $200,000, it is now certain that the cost will be nearer $250,000.”
After the usual speeches, Dr. Young finally performed the official act, “I declare this, the corner stone of the Royal Columbian Hospital, well and truly laid.” With this Dr. Young tapped the granite, covering a well-filled receptacle of records, local newspapers and lists of officials. That cornerstone was kept intact when the 1912 building was demolished and it now mounted on the wall in the lobby of RCH, between the RCH Foundation office and the information desk.
A copy of the British Columbian of Dec. 10, 1912 is taken from time capsule in cornerstone by RCH assistant medical director Dr. Norman Rigby, left, and associate director Frank Butler. Worker Lothar Weimann is an interested onlooker. From the Columbian, October 12, 1972
The new hospital had three floors and a basement, with room for 170 patients. It had steam heat, a trash-burning incinerator that also heated hot water, an elevator to take patients to the operating room on the top floor, a central diet kitchen and a 10-bed children’s ward. But it took a lot longer than anyone could have anticipated to get the hospital furnished and open to care for patients.
One of the individuals responsible for getting the building operational was Jessie Taylor Scott, usually referred to as Lady Superintendent. On December 27, 1912, she left on a trip to eastern Canada “where she will acquire ideas concerning the most modern methods of fitting up a hospital and other information that will be useful in the construction and equipment of the new hospital building”. She returned in February 1913 with a full list of supplies and equipment, but the Board did not have the funds to buy most of it. The money contributed by government was for the construction of the hospital only and it could not be used for furnishings or supplies. It would be well into 1914 before the doors were officially opened to patients.
Next week we’ll describe some of the problems they encountered and how they overcame them. Problems like the fact that they had to vacate the old building that had been condemned by the Grand Jury, but the new one was not furnished and there was no money to do so. Problems like carloads of furniture were delayed once they did get the money to order them and critical supplies for the Operating Room were still missing when it was time to open. Check back next week to read the details.
In May of 1874, 38 year old Anthony Twentyman of Dog Creek in the Clinton-Lillooet district of British Columbia accidently shot himself in the knee, breaking several bones. Over the course of the next several days, he somehow managed to get to Yale, then took the steamer Onward, captained by Jack Deighton (later known as Gassy Jack), to New Westminster.
He was admitted to Royal Columbian Hospital immediately upon his arrival on May 22nd. The following article from the Mainland Guardian of May 30, 1874 picks up the story:
“Successful Operation at the R.C. Hospital –
On 26th inst., Dr. T.R. McInnes, assisted by his brother L.R. McInnes, removed the injured leg of Mr. Twentyman, who accidentally shot himself at Dog Creek. It was diseased, so that amputation was a simple necessity; the division, from the progress upward of the disease, required to be made at the union of the middle with the lower third of the femur. Dr. Trew was present and administered chloroform. We are happy to state that the greatest hopes are entertained of the safe recovery of the patient. This, we are told, is the first operation of the kind at our Hospital”.
There was some argument following this article about whether or not it was the “first operation of the kind”. In May of 1863, Dr. McNaughton-Jones had successfully performed a leg amputation with the assistance of only the steward, W.D. Ferris, who had no medical training. However, all earlier amputations were below the knee, while the Twentyman procedure was nine inches above the knee – a significantly different operation.
Mr. Twentyman recovered quickly and returned to the Clinton-Lillooet area and his occupation of miller, possibly unaware of just how many stars had to align for him not only to survive the accident and surgery, but also to be able to carry on a normal life. Given the severity of his wound, the length of time before it was treated, the lack of sanitation or awareness of its importance, infection was inevitable. But it was his timing that was the most fortuitous.
Thomas Robert McInnes, M.D., came to New Westminster to join his brother Loftus, also a medical doctor with a successful practice, only a few days before Mr. Twentyman. He attended Harvard University, and qualified as a doctor at Rush Medical College, but more importantly, he enlisted as a surgeon during the American Civil War.
Civil War Amputation Kit
Image courtesy of the Civil War Museum at Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield.
During the course of the war, formal and informal surgical training programs were begun for newly enlisted surgeons, and special courses on treating gunshot wounds were given. Surgeons on both sides developed skills and knowledge that improved the treatment of wounds, and devised many new surgical procedures in desperate attempts to save lives in spite of working without knowledge of the nature of infection and without drugs to treat it.
Mr. Twentyman arrived at just the right time to be treated by T.R. McInnes, a highly skilled surgeon experienced in high-level amputation, with the assistance of Loftus McInnes and Dr. Trew, both skilled physicians and surgeons in their own right. If the accident had happened a few years earlier or later, the outcome would probably have been very different.
Thomas Robert McInnes was elected Mayor of New Westminster in 1876. In 1878, during his second term as mayor, he was elected to the House of Commons and left New Westminster. Although technically an independent, he openly supported Sir John A. MacDonald and advocated compulsory voting, a policy of reciprocity with the US, and the consolidation of Canada by means of the transcontinental railway. On December 24, 1881, he was appointed Senator. When Laurier came to power federally in 1896, T.R. McInnes was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia and served in that position from 1897 to 1900. His was a turbulent term to put it mildly. During his term, he twice dismissed premiers, appointing controversial successors and eventually was dismissed from office by Laurier. His is a story worth reading and easily found on line or in any library.
Thomas Robert McInnes M.D. in the uniform of Lietuenant Governor
Anthony Twentyman died September 13, 1891, six days after having been kicked by a horse, so he never knew McInnes as BC’s Lieutenant-Governor, but only as M.P. and Senator. But probably none of that mattered to him. For him, Thomas Robert McInnes was the man who saved his life at RCH and gave him 17 years more than he would have had if their paths had not crossed. A different world indeed from today where the BC Air Ambulance would whisk him to RCH’s trauma bay in a matter of hours and he would be just one of 10,000 trauma patients or 68,000 ER patients treated yearly.
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