In 1954 something incredible happened. What had once seemed impossible became a reality, setting the groundwork for one of the biggest revolutions in 20th-century medicine. This is the story of the first successful organ transplant.  Now the intro to this piece is a bit misleading. Humanity has been performing organ transplants since antiquity. These surgeries have spanned the globe from Egypt to Rome to Greece, India and China.  The one thing all these transplants had in common is that they all dealt with the largest organs of the human body, skin. The oldest record of skin grafting ..read more

The Museum will be open Saturday, April 6th, Sunday and April 7th, 10am-4pm for solar eclipse themed programming. Join us for free, interactive, family-friendly activities  that investigate beliefs, superstitions, and traditions about the effects of events like the solar eclipse on health and the body. Discover ancient traditions and healing practices as they relate to the solar eclipse. Consult with an apothecary to help cure your ills. Make your own amulet to help collect all the positive energy that a solar eclipse brings. Explore the Museum to find all 8 phases of the moon. This fu ..read more

The Museum of Health Care and Murney Tower Museum are inviting you to Eggs-tream Easter Fun – at the Museum! On Saturday, March 30th, the Museum of Health Care and Murney Tower Museum will open their doors for an Eggs-tra special Easter event which includes an Easter egg hunt and Easter-themed crafts. Registration is required. Tickets are just $5.   What to expect? Easter eggs will be hidden in both museums waiting to be discovered. Families can visit both sites to find the hidden eggs and participate in Easter themed crafts and activities. Don’t forget to bring your own basket! Bags will ..read more

Did you know that the story behind surgical gloves is a love story? It began, if one wishes to trace its farthest origins, with Joseph Lister, who popularized aseptic surgery in the 1860s and 1870s. Lister insisted that doctors and nurses should wash their hands in carbolic acid, and this idea was then adopted by Dr. William Stewart Halsted at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. Halsted had surgeons and nurses wash their hands with soap, then a solution of potassium permanganate, a hot oxalic acid bath, and a mercury-chloride compound. It was from this chemical soup that love would spring. Dr ..read more

Born and raised in Whitney Pier, Nova Scotia, Clotilda Douglas-Yakimchuk became the first Black graduate of the Nova Scotia Hospital School of Nursing in 1954. She also went on to earn a postgraduate midwifery diploma and psychiatric nursing certificate, and diploma in adult education. Clotilda is also the only Black President in the history of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Nova Scotia (now known as The College of Registered Nurses of Nova Scotia) to date.  Dedicating 50 years of her life to  nursing, Yakimchuk was a strong influence and proponent for the nursing profession a ..read more

As one of only four Black students at the University of Toronto’s medical school in 1955, Dr. J Douglas Salmon graduated and would go on to become president of Scarborough Centenary Hospital’s medical staff, and chief of general surgery – the first black person in Canada to hold these positions. He also became one of the first surgeons in Canada to treat people who were morbidly obese with the then life-changing treatment, gastric bypass surgery. Throughout his life, Dr. Salmon had to work hard for all he achieved. During both his high-school and post-secondary career he worked several jobs to ..read more

Inspired by her grandmother and spurred on by her family’s experience with typhoid, Dr. June Marion James attended the University of Manitoba with the intention of pursuing a career in medicine. She was the first Black woman to attend the university, and the only Black woman of the six women in its medical program in 1963. Dr. James began her career as a Paediatric Fellow in Hematology and Oncology at the University of Manitoba, but became interested in the area of asthma and allergies as new and developing treatments were making waves at the time. She went on to develop the first ever Fa ..read more

History in the Making! Dr. Hadal El-Hadi and Dr. Teresa Semalulu are the co-founders of Black Physicians of Canada. The organization was established in 2020 with a mission to build a community of Black physicians and physicians-in-training, and educate the Canadian health care system about the obstacles that Black physicians frequently encounter. It also aims to increase representation amongst stakeholders to provide better advocacy for the needs of Black physicians, physicians in training, and work toward health equity for the Black community in Canada. Dr. Hadal El-Hadi was born in Sudan and ..read more

The Museum of Health Care is hiring for various positions this summer. Spend your summer working in heritage! As an equal opportunity employer, we strongly encourage women, visible minorities, Indigenous peoples, persons with a disability, and persons who identify as members of the 2SLGBTQ+ communities to apply for employment. We thank all applicants for their interest, however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted. Please ensure to review the job descriptions, eligibility criteria and submission critieria prior to applying. Position Title Funding provided by/eligibil ..read more

Join us on Monday, February 19th from 9am-4pm for the annual Teddy Bear Hospital! Children and their families can bring their teddy bear or other special stuffed animal to the Museum of Health Care where trained “teddy doctors and nurses” will be on hand to examine and treat any bumps, lumps, and bruises. Be ready to learn, laugh, and find out why doctors and hospitals aren’t so scary after all! The event will include a hands-on activities and crafts. Working alongside museum staff and volunteers, children will share in the experience of a check-up for their stuffie, and help with bandaging ..read more