The Hamilton General Hospital Training School for Nurses was established at City Hospital in 1890. It was initially a two-year-long apprenticeship style program led by the head nurse and physicians, but expanded to a three-year program involving formal instruction and on-the-job training. The Hamilton General Hospital School of Nursing was discontinued in 1973 when Mohawk College took over the program.
The Hamilton Academy of Medicine (HAM) is a local voluntary professional association and a territorial branch society of District 4 of the Ontario Medical Association (OMA). Its role is to strengthen the camaraderie among the physicians and surgeons of Hamilton and the surrounding region and to offer them opportunities to engage with scientific, political, and social developments impacting the medical profession.
A precursor of HAM, the Hamilton Medical and Surgical Society, was established on February 3, 1863. Its principal function was to host the annual election of the six doctors who would have hospital privileges. After this function was lost, and confronted with disputes among its members, on October 24, 1899, it was decided to abandon this organization and begin again.
On November 7, 1899, a new association, the Hamilton Medical Society (HMS), was established. Prior to WWI, its members met once a month from September to May to listen to presentations by fellow members or guest speakers. From 1906, they held an annual clinical day, which consisted of presentations at one of the hospitals followed by a dinner.
Following WWI, in 1919, HMS affiliated with the OMA, one of the first local medical societies to do so, and adopted a new constitution that was in line with that of OMA. This greatly expanded its purpose. While its focused remained on education, it began to organize social events such as picnics and golf tournaments.
In 1919, as a result of its affiliation with OMA, the HMS established an Executive, made up of the President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer. The Executive was responsible for policy and for arranging the annual program. Another notable change was the introduction of standing and special committees to handle social and political issues of particular concern to doctors as they arose.
In 1931, HMS changed its name to the Hamilton Academy of Medicine (HAM) and opened its first permanent headquarters in the newly built Medical Arts Building at 1 Young Street in downtown Hamilton. To legally incorporate, it applied for and was issued letters patent on February 25, 1932. In addition, HAM's constitution and bylaws were revised. A Council was introduced, made up of the Executive, OMA Delegate, and the Chairs of current standing and special committees. The Council, which met quarterly, became responsible for policy and planning.
In 1934, the first Section—subgroup of members of a particular medical or surgical specialty—of HAM, the Section of General Practice (later renamed Section of Family Medicine), was established. It would be joined by sixteen others over the following decades.
In 1936, HAM relocated its headquarters to 286 Victoria Avenue North, the building which had formerly housed the Babies’ Dispensary Guild, a municipal property leased to the Hamilton General Hospital. Rent was a nominal $1 plus free use of its library by the Hospital. This remained its headquarters until 1990, when it sold its library to the Hospital and returned to the Medical Arts Building, its current home.
Dr. Richard T. Weaver, MB, FACS, FRCSC, was born in North Western Canada in 1898 and raised by missionary parents in a remote part of Manitoba. He became fluent in Cree, the language spoken by the local Indigenous Peoples. At the age of eight he travelled by canoe and pony 500 miles to the South, which linked up to the rail line. From there he then travelled to St. Catharines to attend Ridley College. He was commissioned as an officer in the Royal Field Artillery in 1917 at the age of 19 and served in England and France from 1917–19. He graduated from the University of Toronto in 1924 and practiced general medicine in St. Catharines for a few years, before doing postgraduate training in obstetrics and gynecology in New York, Salzburg and Vienna.
Dr. Weaver, one of the first consultant obstetricians and gynecologists in Hamilton. He established his practice in 1933 and was the first to limit his practice exclusively to this specialty. He was chief of obstetrics and gynecology at the Hamilton Civic Hospitals from 1942–58. During that time, he established a strong department and was responsible for training a number of obstetricians and gynecologists, who now practice in Hamilton and throughout Canada. He was a significant force in Canada in promoting gynecology as a specialty and in raising the standards of gynecological care. Dr. Weaver was especially skillful at vaginal surgery and was mainly responsible for its widespread use in Canada. He had a special interest in gynecological malignancy and served for many years on the Medical Advisory Committee of the Ontario Cancer Foundation.
Dr. Weaver retired from active practice in 1973.Dr. Weaver would pass away a year later.
Born Jan 4, 1921, Leonard served in the military during World War II, with deployments in England and Sicily, and was a member of the Lorn Scots protection platoon. In 1941, he married Ada Elaine, beginning a relationship that would last over five decades. Leonard's life changed significantly in 1949 when he sustained an industrial injury near the McGivney ammunition dump while working with New Brunswick Hydro, resulting in paraplegia. Despite this setback, Leonard demonstrated remarkable resilience, undergoing extensive rehabilitation and continuing his professional career with New Brunswick Hydro for over three decades, eventually rising to the position of supervisor.
Beyond his professional achievements, Leonard cherished time with his family, which included two sons and two daughters. He passed away on June 20, 2002.