Tour Through Time – Campus Buildings

HSC Women’s Hospital along Elgin Ave, 2019

Elgin at Sherbrook (HSC Winnipeg Women’s Hospital northside green space)

Nestled against the Elgin Avenue side of HSC Women’s Hospital is an array of shrubs and evergreens running the full length of the building. Siberian Dogwood, Blue Fox Willow, and Dwarf Korean Lilac line the sidewalk and a thin metal grid on the wall allows ivy to climb and twirl along the brickwork. The glass windows reflect the greenery, creating the effect of a much larger garden. Of note, the Women’s Hospital was designed with a ‘step-back’ for each floor so the residential houses on the north side of Elgin are not under the shadow of the hospital and continue to receive natural sunlight throughout the day.

• More information about HSC Winnipeg Women’s Hospital

700 Elgin Ave, HSC Ambulatory Care Clinic, 2022

700 Elgin Ave, Ellen Douglass School building prior to renovations, c.2019

700 Elgin (Ambulatory Care Clinic)

In 1906, to relieve congestion at WGH, the Women’s Hospital Aid Society (the original “group” instrumental in establishing WGH) established a Convalescent Home for patients who no longer needed special treatment but were not quite well enough to be discharged into the community. Initially located on McDermot Ave, the Convalescent Home was moved to rented houses at 697 and 700 Elgin Avenue in 1908-1909. The Home remained on this site until 1915 (when the services moved to another location), and the building reverted to a private residence until 1960 when Ellen Douglass School was constructed on the site.

Ellen Douglass School closed 1980, but the Child Guidance Clinic operated at the site until 2015. The building was purchased, completely remodeled, and opened as the HSC Ambulatory Care Clinic in 2022. This 46,000 square foot facility brought together 12 internal medicine clinics that had been spread out in seven different areas on the HSC campus. Consolidating these clinics in a single facility provides convenience to patients to see multiple specialists in a single visit and frees up space on the main campus for other acute-care services. The clinic is expected to serve 100,000 outpatients each year.

665 William Ave, HSC Women’s Hospital

665 William (HSC Winnipeg Women’s Hospital)

HSC Winnipeg Women’s Hospital at 665 William Avenue was constructed to replace the former hospital at 735 Notre Dame Avenue with an updated facility, and to allow HSC to consolidate in-patient and out-patient obstetrical, surgical, and neonatal intensive care under one roof. The 388,500 square foot, 173-bed hospital opened in December 2019, providing care for the unique health needs of women of all ages and more than 6,000 babies are born here each year.

The building is designed to enhance patient privacy, safety, and comfort and includes an underground parkade and covered drop-off area at ground level. The healing role of nature is incorporated with natural light throughout the building, green spaces on the roof-top patio and at street level, images of native Manitoba wildflowers and grasses as wayfinding landmarks, and images of elm trees imprinted on the glass walls surrounding the exterior (Winnipeg is home to the largest remaining urban elm forest in North America). Of note, the Women’s Hospital was designed with a ‘step-back’ for each floor so the residential houses on the north side of Elgin Avenue are not under the shadow of the hospital and continue to receive natural sunlight throughout the day.

• More information about HSC Winnipeg Women’s Hospital services
• Learn more about the History of Women’s & Maternal Health at HSC Winnipeg

659 William Ave, former Children’s Hospital Annex, c.1960s

659/663 William (former Children’s Hospital Annex)

As the former Children’s Hospital of Winnipeg rapidly outgrew the space that had been constructed in the mid-1950s, two properties were rented/purchased in 1960 and 1962 to allow for expansion. These became the Children’s Hospital Annex which housed a variety of programs including the Animal House and later the Genetics Department. 663 William was demolished in 1969, and 659 William in 1978. Both lots were converted into surface parking until construction of HSC Women’s Hospital began in 2010.

671 William Ave, Harry Medovy House. c.1970

671 William (Harry Medovy House)

When Children’s Hospital initially moved from Aberdeen Avenue to Bannatyne Avenue, Winnipeg General Hospital made room to accommodate the interns from both hospitals in the newly constructed Interns Residence on McDermot Avenue. In 1970, as part of a recruitment initiative, a five-storey apartment building was constructed at 671 William Avenue to provide housing for married interns and residents and named in honour of pediatrician Harry Medovy. For many years “Will’s Place” was located here, providing temporary accommodation for families with children who were receiving bone marrow transplants, and now the building is currently home to administrative offices and storage for several programs. Part of the building is also undergoing renovations to accommodate additional offices.

685 William Ave, Community Services Building

685 William (Community Services)

Constructed as the residence for the Children’s Hospital School of Nursing, the building opened as part of the move of Children’s Hospital from Aberdeen Avenue to Bannatyne Avenue in 1957. The total cost of both Children’s Hospital and the associated Nurses’ Residence was $4 million. As one of three English language pediatric nursing schools in Canada at the time, it provided Western Canada with nurses specially trained for the care of sick children. The Children’s Hospital School of Nursing closed in 1969, pediatric nurse training was consolidated within the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing, and the building was converted into offices and out-patient clinic space. Currently, some pediatric clinics are located here.

William Ave looking east: Children’s Emergency entrance, skywalk connecting HSC Women’s and the Diagnostic Centre of Excellence (DCE), and Paul Albrechtsen Heliport atop the DCE

Diagnostic Centre of Excellence

Across the street from Harry Medovy House, and adjacent to the east side of the Ann Thomas Building, is the Diagnostic Centre of Excellence. Located at the top of the building is the Paul Albrechsten Heliport, the first hospital-based heliport in Manitoba. The building opened in 2017 with a CT and MRI suite, followed by other diagnostic services including Ultrasound, a Catheterization Lab, and the new HSC Children’s Heart Centre.

Winnipeg General Hospital, Alexandra Park, c.1889

Winnipeg General Hospital, Alexandra Park, 1914

Health Sciences Centre Winnipeg, Johnston Park,
c.1973

Former Alexandra/Johnston Park, now (l-r) Ann Thomas Building, walkway connecting William Ave Parkade, 700 William Ave entrance, Kleysen Institute for Advanced Medicine, c. 2019

700 William (former Alexandra Park, Johnston Park)

From 1906 onwards, ownership of the green space at the north side of the hospital changed multiple times between the hospital and the City of Winnipeg. Originally called Alexandra Park (after Queen Alexandra), and later Johnston Park in 1971, it stretched from Bannatyne Avenue to William Avenue. Over time the hospital used this space for expansion to meet the growing healthcare needs of Manitobans, initially by deflecting Bannatyne to the north and gaining space for the construction of the East and West Wings (1913), Children’s Hospital (1956), the North Wing (1958), the Ann Thomas Building (2009), Kleysen Institute for Advanced Medicine (2010), and Diagnostic Centre of Excellence (2017).

Ann Thomas Building

As part of major redevelopments at HSC, the construction of the Ann Thomas Building* began a transformation of HSC’s footprint along William Avenue, replacing the north wing of the Children’s Hospital and creating new emergency departments, operating rooms, recovery rooms, and intensive care units for both adults and children, and reopening the north entrance of the hospital after nearly 25 years of the main entrance being only on the east side.

In exchange for losing the park, other pockets of green space were allocated throughout the campus allowing for easier access to natural settings for all patients and staff alike.

*Named for Ann Thomas Callahan – Wapiskisiw Piyésís Iskwéw (White Birdwoman) – one of the first Indigenous nurses to graduate from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing. The Ann Thomas Building (reflecting her name at the time of her graduation in 1958) serves as a permanent honour recognizing her lifelong dedication to healing and wellness.

Kleysen Institute for Advanced Medicine

The Kleysen Institute for Advanced Medicine (adjacent to the west side of Ann Thomas Building) was built to house neurosciences, new surgical therapies, advanced imaging and medical informatics. Funds for its construction were raised by HSC Foundation in partnership with Siemens Canada and named after local businessman and capital campaign chair Hubert Kleysen. Standing at 5 storeys, today it houses the University of Manitoba Neurosciences Lab, clinic and office space for Transplant Manitoba-Gift of Life program, the Winnipeg Cyclotron Facility, and the first IMRIS intraoperative suite in Canada featuring flexibility of MRI and angiography.

Learn more about:

• IMRIS interoperative suite (video)
• Winnipeg Cyclotron Facility
• Transplant Manitoba  

HSC’s founding institutions: former Manitoba Rehabilitation Hospital-D.A. Stewart Centre (left), former Winnipeg General Hospital (centre), former Children’s Hospital of Winnipeg (centre and right), 2023

800/810 Sherbrook St: Manitoba Rehabilitation Hospital-D.A. Stewart Centre, c. 1980s

840 Sherbrook St: HSC Winnipeg Children’s Hospital, c. 1970s

840 Sherbrook St: HSC Winnipeg Children’s Hospital addition, c. 1984

Sherbrook Loop
Standing at 820 Sherbrook and facing West you will see the three original institutions (each unique and nationally respected in its own history of service), which formed Health Sciences Centre Winnipeg in 1973. An Act of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba united the Winnipeg General Hospital, Manitoba Rehabilitation Hospital-D.A. Stewart Centre, and Children’s Hospital of Winnipeg under a single administration for global hospital planning and shared services, and as part of a larger vision for a Manitoba Medical Centre campus.

800/810 Sherbrook Street Entrance
Situated on the site of the former Central Tuberculosis Clinic, the Manitoba Rehabilitation Hospital-D.A. Stewart Centre was built with three components: a six-storey hospital, a four-storey tuberculosis wing, and a single storey treatment area, all surrounding an open courtyard. It was designed by Moody Moore and Partners (now MMP Architects) and opened in 1962.

820 Sherbrook Street Entrance
After many moves within the city, Winnipeg General Hospital (WGH) was finally located on this campus in 1884 on land donated by Andrew McDermot and Andrew Bannatyne. The top of one of the original WGH buildings is visible to the left and down from the “H” hospital sign. The building bearing the “H” was constructed in 1983 and named in honour of Dr. Paul Henrik Thorbjorn Thorlakson who proposed and was a driving force behind the creation of the Manitoba Medical Centre in the 1940s – which has grown to become HSC Winnipeg. The 820 Sherbrook entrance, located under the dark glass canopy, is a main entry point to the HSC Winnipeg campus.

840 Sherbrook Street Entrance
The first Children’s Hospital of Winnipeg opened in 1909 in a rented three-story house on Beaconsfield Street. Within two years it moved to a new building on Aberdeen Avenue. By 1945 it was clear the facility was no longer adequate, and the hospital was encouraged to move to the WGH site to become part of the newly envisioned Manitoba Medical Centre. Designed by Moody Moore and Partners, the brand new $4-million building opened in 1956, and additions to the east side followed in 1967 and 1983.

Horse-drawn ambulance, c. 1889

Air ambulance landing at the HSC Winnipeg heliport, c. 2017

Emergency Patient Transport – Then and Now

From the 820 Sherbrook Loop Garden you can also see locations of the oldest and the newest modes of emergency patient transport for our hospital.

Then: In 1889 the first ambulance in Manitoba was presented to the Winnipeg General Hospital. It was drawn by horses who were stabled below the hospital. (The former stables are now offices, located along the ramp to the tunnels in the GF wing). The fleet grew from one horse-drawn carriage to a collection of motorized vehicles, including one ambulance specifically for infectious disease patients. On the opposite side of the street at 843 Sherbrook is the Bardal Funeral Home. By 1907 at least one of the ambulances was run by A. S. Bardal who owned and operated the funeral home (and whose daughters later graduated from the WGH School of Nursing). WGH discontinued its own ambulance in 1931, and funeral homes continued running ambulance services in Manitoba until at least the early 1960s. The Winnipeg Ambulance Service was established in 1975 and the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service was created in 1997.

Now: In addition to ground ambulance services, air ambulances can now land directly at HSC. Located at the top of the HSC Diagnostic Centre of Excellence is the first hospital-based heliport in Manitoba, opened in November 2016. Prior to the heliport, air ambulances landed at the Winnipeg airport and then patients were transported to HSC by ground ambulance, adding some 30 minutes to their travel time. The heliport is named for Paul Albrechtsen, a philanthropist who contributed more than $13 million to HSC for leading-edge technology and other improvements to patient care.

765 Sherbrook (Sherbrook Dialysis Centre)

The self-care program was originally started in 1969 by Mrs. Margaret Burrows, former assistant head nurse of the hemodialysis unit. Teaching was done in a small room on GF3 and as more patients learned self-dialysis, more space was needed. As a result, the Self-Care Unit moved twice in the 1970s, first to the Kinsmen Centre and then to expanded new facilities at the northeast corner of Sherbrook and Notre Dame (on land formerly occupied by Somerset School, which had closed in 1972). Due to the increased number of patients requiring dialysis treatment, there was a shift away from patients managing their own treatment in the Self-Care facility – and the Self-Care Unit was eliminated as more patients were taught to self-dialyze at home. 765 Sherbrook was renamed as the Sherbrook Centre Dialysis Unit in 2008 and is now known as the Sherbrook Dialysis Centre. Here, an inter-disciplinary team ensures patients’ needs are met with consultative services for diet, medication, exercise, discharge planning, and safety.

Corner of Sherbrook St and McDermot Ave, c. 2015

Flagpoles at corner of Sherbrook St and McDermot Ave, c. 2018

Corner of Sherbrook Street and McDermot Avenue

Although the hospital was established in 1872, it was not until 1875 that it moved to Sherbrook Street. The first hospital building constructed on the site was located at the corner of Sherbrook and McDermot. The two-storey building cost $1,818 to build and featured a large reception room, a pharmacy, and a surgery. Two private rooms on the main floors were allocated for “paying patients” and the upper floor contained a ward for 20 patients. Male patients outnumbered female patients by 10 to one at the time. This building was used until 1882 when it became too small, and the hospital was temporarily re-located to Point Douglas for two years while two new buildings were constructed between Olivia and Emily streets.

This original location of WGH now features green space with outdoor seating for patients, visitors and staff to enjoy. Two flagpoles are installed; on one the Canadian flag flies overhead and the other is reserved to honour Gift of Life decisions.

• Learn more about meaning behind the Gift of Life flag and why it flies (video) https://vimeo.com/182905246

675 McDermot, Nurses’ Residence, c. early 1900s

675 McDermot

For 90 years this was the site of the second WGH School of Nursing, constructed in 1907 at a cost of $67,985 and designed to house approximately 100 nurses. By 1911 it was at capacity and was extended to the north along Olivia Street, taking over the site of the 1888 Maternity Hospital. An indoor swimming pool was added to the basement and tennis courts were laid north of the building. The building ceased to be used to educate nurses in 1972 and various offices and clinics were carved out of the space including Adult Psychiatry (the former facility was demolished to make way for the Brodie and Buhler Centres) and an extension to the 1962 Manitoba Cancer Treatment and Research Foundation building (later CancerCare Manitoba). The Nurses Residence was demolished in 1997 and replaced with the current CancerCare Manitoba building.

700 McDermot, c. 2008

700 McDermot (Isabel M. Stewart Building)

The third school of nursing opened here in 1956. It cost $1.5 million to build and could accommodate 223 students. Second- and third-year students lived here while first-year students continued to live across the street in the second nurses’ residence (675 McDermot). An outdoor swimming pool was built in 1963 (where the daycare now has an outdoor play area). Although it ceased to be a residence in 1982 the building continued to house the School of Nursing classrooms, labs, and offices. It was renamed in honour of Isabel M. Stewart (WGH nursing grad 1902) in May 1998. Today 700 McDermot Avenue continues its legacy of being a teaching space as home to Clinical Education and Project Search offices and classrooms as well as other departments and offices including Archives, Patient Relations, Patient Quality, Occupational Staff Development, Occupational & Environmental Safety & Health, and Department of Internal Medicine Administration. The front lawn space also provides seasonal seating and floral plantings for staff and patients to enjoy.