The Queen Alexandra Hospital for Children

In the early 1920's there were no special health services in British Columbia to serve the special needs of children with health issues. When the Women's Institute were contacted by Mrs. Edith Scott who was seeking health care for her 10 year old daughter who suffered from an injured spine, she could not find the assistance the girl needed. Finally she wrote to the British Columbia Women's Institute with a plea for help.

After examining the province's facilities available for children, the Women's Institutes quickly formulated plans for a province wide campaign to inform the population of the problem and suggest that a fund raising effort be mounted quickly with the goal being to erect and staff a Children's Hospital. Donations started to arrive – even one from Queen Alexandra, Dowager Queen of Great Britain, hence the name for the facility.

In 1927 the doors of the new Queen Alexandra Hospital for Crippled Children opened at Brentwood Bay and the first patient admitted was Othoa “Polly” Scott.

Tuberculosis and polio were rampant among children in the 1920's and there were few supports available for children with complex needs. Children with these problems were kept at home, made as comfortable as possible and waited for developments.

Soon the facility will be marking it's 100th year of service to the smallest and most vulnerable of British Columbia's citizens. These children who have become adults have been and continue to be thankful for the care they received which made their lives much more comfortable and in turn they have given back to the province as a whole.

Even though the facility has been replaced with a more modern one located in Victoria, the focus on children and their health needs has continued to expand and the hospital now has centers the length of the Island to provide some basic service closer to the patients homes.

Island Residents have taken this facility to their hearts - donations and fund raisers are numerous and well used. I have been a supporter of this hospital since I joined the Women's Institute in 1965. I have made many garments for the patients who were cared for there – and I am just one of the many, many Women's Institute members who have devoted numerous and long hours to help provide for the needs for the patients and the facility.

What a difference in 100 years!

Ruth Fenner, Provincial Historian, British Columbia Women's Institutes