Naylor, C. David

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Érudit est un consortium interuniversitaire sans but lucratif composé de l'Université de Montréal, l'Université Laval et l'Université du Québec àMontréal. Il a pour mission la promotion et la valorisation de la recherche. Érudit offre des services d'édition numérique de documentsscientifiques depuis 1998.Pour communiquer avec les responsables d'Érudit : info@erudit.org Compte rendu Ouvrage recensé : Growing to Serve... A History of Victoria Hospital, London, Ontario. John R. Sullivan, Norman R.Ball, London, Victoria Hospital Corporation, 1985. Pp 163, illus., index, appendices par C. David NaylorScientia Canadensis: Canadian Journal of the History of Science, Technology and Medicine / Scientia           Canadensis : revue canadienne d'histoire des sciences, des techniques et de la médecine , vol. 11, n°1, (32) 1987, p. 47-48.   Pour citer ce compte rendu, utiliser l'adresse suivante : URI: http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/800248arDOI: 10.7202/800248arNote : les règles d'écriture des références bibliographiques peuvent varier selon les différents domaines du savoir.Ce document est protégé par la loi sur le droit d'auteur. L'utilisation des services d'Érudit (y compris la reproduction) est assujettie à sa politiqued'utilisation que vous pouvez consulter à l'URI https://apropos.erudit.org/fr/usagers/politique-dutilisation/Document téléchargé le 14 février 2017 07:5647 Growing to Serve ... A History of Victoria Hospital, London, Ontario. John R. Sullivan, Norman R. Ball, London, Victoria Hospital Corporation, 1985. Pp 163, illus., index, appendices. The last seven years have brought a substantial and positive change in the volume and quality of material written about our medical past. However, as Profedssor S.E.D. Shortt has recently noted in the Journal of Canadian Studies ['The Canadian Hospital in the Nineteenth Century: an Historiographie Lament,» J Can Studies 18 (winter 1983-4), 3-141 hospital historiography remains an area with considerable potential for development. A major historical overview of the hospital system is sorely needed, but in the interim, 'house histories' focussing on a single institution continue to appear. The latest such work is Growing to Serve, a history of what is currently Canada's largest general hospital, Victoria — a major referral centre that sprawls over two separate sites and includes several satellite institutions in London, Ontario. In 1975, after much initial work by the hospital archives committee, John R. Sullivan was retained as a summer student to sift and organize the collected material. Sullivan, who had studied history at the University of Toronto, then wrote a preliminary manuscript. Sullivan departed for Colombia and a CUSO post, but various executives and doctors, particularly Dr Marvin Smout, were sufficiently convinced of the merits of the project that they turned to Dr Norman R. Ball, then Science and Engineering Archivist at the Public Archives of Canada. Dr Ball used the manuscript, assorted research files and additional research to write Growing to Sezve. This unusual authorship arrangement has produced a volume that is a welcome addition to the collection of individual hospital histories already extant, and it is better than most in documentation, analysis and prose style. As the title implies, the analysis reflects a positivist perspective. This is nowhere more evident than in the 'Conclusions' at the end of each chapter: these paragraphs are occasionally trite and almost invariably Whiggish. The strengths of the work are nonetheless considerable. From its almshouse origins to its current curative-palliative focus, the hospital's evolution receives concise description. Early civic health 48 care institutions are discussed, and an entertaining account of administrative conflicts in the 1880s enlivens this section. A review of the origins and initial operations of Victoria Hospital sets the stage for a fine chapter on the influence of the redoubtable Adam Beck. As mayor of London and ex-off iclo trustee, Beck stamped his ideals on fVicf in its formative years. From here, the narrative moves smoothly and thematlcally forward, convering, among other topics: the affiliation with UWO's medical school; nursing education; conflicts over hospital privileges for doctors who were not on the honorary attending staff; the development of satellite institutions in pediatrics, cancer care and tuberculosis treatment; and the decision, wisely pushed by the provincial government, to centre future growth on a new site in the city's southern end. A number of Interesting photos adorn the manuscript, the index is adequate and the production in general is well done. On the other hand, Appendix 6, with Its twenty-page list of every intern and resident at 'Vic1 from 1929 to 1976, is a parochial indulgence that seems especially unfortunate when the actual text has been held to only 163 pages. In conclusion, this book, one of the better in its genre, will probably not find a place on the shelves of many professional historians. But its clear prose, excellent organization and careful citation of primary sources make it a useful reference work that Canadian health science libraries should have on hand. C. David Naylor London, Ontario 

Growing to Serve... A History of Victoria Hospital, London, Ontario. John R. Sullivan, Norman R. Ball, London, Victoria Hospital Corporation, 1985. Pp 163, illus., index, appendices

C. David Naylor

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Scientia Canadensis Canadian Journal of the History of Science Technology and Medicine

http://www.erudit.org/revue/scientia/1987/v11/n1/800248ar.pdf

Growing to Serve... A History of Victoria Hospital, London, Ontario. John R. Sullivan, Norman R. Ball, London, Victoria Hospital Corporation, 1985. Pp 163, illus., index, appendices

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