LHSC donates 150 years of London healthcare history to Western Archives

London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) has officially donated 152 boxes of historical records to Western University, preserving 150 years of local healthcare history in a public archive.

The materials, which date back to the late 1800s, include handwritten letters, photographs, documents, and artifacts from the region's earliest hospitals, such as South Street Hospital, the Beck Sanatorium, and the War Memorial Children's Hospital. They also contain records from Victoria and University Hospitals, and one of the earliest nursing training schools.

"This is a great acquisition for Western," Western archivist Anne Quirk said. "It tells the story of early healthcare in London through training notebooks, photos, correspondence, and even land purchase agreements for the tuberculosis sanatorium."

The donation marks a significant milestone for the hospital network, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year.

"It's a legacy of healthcare, not just locally, but across our region," said Deborah Wiseman, Vice President of Clinical Services at LHSC. "We were pioneers back in the 1800s, and we're still pioneers today."

The archives include records that were stored at Victoria Hospital and Children's Hospital for decades, often scattered across departments. According to LHSC, clinical librarian Darren Hamilton spearheaded the effort to gather and preserve the material before transferring them to Western's archives and research collection centre.

"There's a lot more to be discovered once we go into the boxes in more detail," said Quirk.

Archivists will now begin the painstaking process of organizing the collection, placing items in acid-free folders, and creating a searchable finding aid. Eventually, elements may be digitized for broader public access. Until then, the collection is available for in-person viewing in Western's reading room.

Items of note include training certificates from the Victoria Hospital School of Nursing dating back to 1883, photographs from tuberculosis sanatoriums, and vintage newsletters such as Vic Life, which in 1958 highlighted updates to the pharmacy department.

The records complement Western's existing holdings on medical history, including documents from the London Psychiatric Hospital and the London Regional Cancer Centre.

For Londoners curious to see some of the history now, a curated exhibit of LHSC's 150th anniversary is on display at the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame at 100 Kellogg Lane.