05/22/2026
Ever wondered how Sydenham Hospital in Wallaceburg got its start?
🔎🏥
The idea for a hospital in Wallaceburg started gaining attention at the end of the First World War, when a flu-like epidemic spread across North America.
Wallaceburg alone recorded more than fifty deaths, and the community realized it needed a permanent health institution. During that emergency, Captain James Steinhoff turned over the Arlington Hotel to be used as an emergency hospital, but it was clearly not a long-term solution.
Ada Meredith and Alma Baughman, working through the Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire (Baldoon Chapter), helped rally support for a hospital to be built on land donated by Charles Hazzard. By 1922, more than $35,000 had been raised, but it still wasn’t enough to build, and the plan was shelved for about 30 years.
The idea returned around the time of the Second World War, when there was fresh momentum and renewed urgency to improve local healthcare. H.W. Burgess helped spearhead the organizational drive to finally make the project real.
Fundraising picked up again, and the first sod was turned on June 7, 1955(picture 3), this time on land donated by Lawrence (Tony) and Emily Martin. The new Sydenham Hospital opened in October 1955. The community later funded expansions as well, including the east wing addition in 1967(picture 1), and the hospital has remained a symbol of Wallaceburg’s community effort to provide local care.
Picture 1: Sydenham Hospital, 1967
Picture 2: A donation of $20,000 to the Sydenham District Hospital
Picture 3: First day striking dirt on the location of what would become the Sydenham District Hospital
Picture 4: Newspaper clipping of the first blood donors at the hospital
