The Matter of Privacy at the Hospital

Welcome back for another fall and winter of Reston, Manitoba history.  Do you have any ideas or pictures for future blog posts?  I'd love to hear them!

A previous post about the Reston District Hospital is here but browsing through archived issues of the Reston Recorder this summer (https://rmofpipestone.com/p/reston-recorder-archive) turned up some more information and pictures.  Photos from the scanned microfilm and not very sharp but it’s something! These 3 were taken by Verne Glass on grand opening day when the public was invited in to look around and have tea. 

Reston hospital was officially opened on December 15, 1951. Community donations toward the building amounted to $4212.20 including $2000 from the Reston Memorial Theatre and $712.20 from the Masonic Lodge. A donation of 2 scales was made by Jim Sing of the Modern Cafe. The Reston Unit of the Hospital Aid was tasked with furnishing and buying equipment for the new hospital. It had 4 wards each having 2 beds, a case room, a nursery and nurses beds, staff dining room and kitchen on two floors. 

The community, and especially Dr. Chapman, had been promoting the idea of a community hospital since the flu epidemic of 1919 but homes and hospitals in surrounding communities were used instead. Finally in 1951, construction began at the far west side of town along the highway.  Reading through the past issues, listing of names of patients admitted and released were printed weekly.  it seems strange and lacking privacy according to today's standards although I recall seeing similar in the Minot, N.D. paper.

The hospital admission and discharge lists stopped in early 1969 and I was curious at to why.  Luckily, my questions was answered in the two Letters to the Editor below!

Lastly for today, the clipping below from 1970 certainly has a familiar ring to it.  I guess history is indeed bound to be repeated!