History

In 1947, one of Yellowknife's largest construction efforts was underway on the shores of Frame Lake. By then, the population of Yellowknife was big enough to be eligible for Red Cross Oupost funding, and monies were granted for a new hospital. On January 6 1948, the Red Cross Hospital opened its doors to the people of the region. When the Red Cross left in 1960, the hospital was renamed to Stanton Regional Hospital. On May 22, 1966 the Stanton Hospital burned to the ground.

The Elks Hall was put to use as an emergency hospital between 1966 and 1967. The downstairs clubhouse became an operating room, and the office and upper level were used as the wards. During this time, it was common to have a barroom operation and barroom babies born in Yellowknife.

Elise came to Yellowknife in 1970 with the plan of working at Stanton Hospital for one year to make money and advance her career.  Elise met her future husband, made great friends, and calls Yellowknife home to this day.

Tina arrived in Yellowknife in 1979 and quickly realized that her time at Stanton Hospital would be an excellent learning experience. Working as a nurse, she recalls her first time treating frostbite, having never seen it before in her tropical home country.  While she would later become an expert at treating it, she still feels very sorry for that first patient!

With the changes in technology over 20 years, as well as the growing population of Yellowknife, funding was approved in 1984 for the construction of a new hospital. By 1985, the vision was in place, and the Architect's Rendering of the future Stanton Hospital had been approved.

Winter was fast approaching, and by the fall of 1986, the exterior frame of the three-storey building was up. Work would now be able to continue throughout the winter.

The current Stanton Yellowknife Hospital was officially opened in the spring of 1988. Since then, it has continuously provided care to citizens of Yellowknife and the NWT.

In 1998, Stanton Yellowknife Hospital was constantly in the news.  Surgeons were bringing more and more surgeries to Yellowknife for patients who only years before had to be transferred to hospitals in Edmonton. This progress helped decrease the amount of time a patient would be away from their home, and was a welcome change for the community.

Stanton Territorial Hospital was awarded the second highest accreditation level, Accreditation with Report in September 2008. The award demonstrates the commitment in providing quality care and service and is the result of hard work across the hospital on an ongoing basis. Very few organization receive full accreditation. 

At a 25-year reunion in July 2013, the memories shared by previous staff members were primarily of the wonderful team that worked together and the fun they had both on and off the clock. Christmas and Halloween parties were frequently mentioned, and games of cards, and enjoying the summer sun were extremely popular! Here, four staff members share their memories:

Rene Columbo, a staff nurse from 1963 – 1964 fondly remembers working in the medical clinic with colleagues who became life long friends.

Joan Coren (Shaw), who worked as a Lab Technician from 1960 until 1964, loved watching the sun come up in the morning, and enjoying coffee in the kitchen of the old hospital. She also recalls having to phone people in the middle of the night to come in as blood donors to handle emergency situations.

Nurses Mary Hutchinson (Makaryshyn) (1959) and Mona Graton (1959-1964) loved playing cards. Mary recalls the frequent games before work, causing staff members to be a little bit late if the game was close!