Hospital tour takes a turn toward art, history and design at the MUHC
Posted on
A DNA helix and human hemoglobin macro-molecule are part of the tour that also dips into an area called the spine — a corridor that is otherwise off-limits to the public.
Published Oct 10, 2019 • Last updated 2 minutes ago • 6 minute read
Article content
It’s big. And to those who do not know it well, the sprawling Glen campus of the McGill University Health Centre can feel like a formidable place to navigate.
But a free hour-long guided tour exploring its design and layout, the integration of public art installations and a bit of the history of its founding institutions is intended to make it feel less daunting. About 1,000 people have taken the tour since it was first offered three years ago. A fall series is now on.
Advertisement 2
Story continues below
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY
There with you then. Here with you now. As a critical part of the community for over 245 years,The Gazette continues to deliver trusted English-language news and coverage on issues that matter. Subscribe now to receive:
Unlimited online access to our award-winning journalism including thought-provoking columns by Allison Hanes, Josh Freed and Bill Brownstein.
Opportunity to engage with our commenting community and learn from fellow readers in a moderated forum.
Unlimited online access to the Montreal Gazette and National Post, including the New York Times Crossword, and 14 more news sites with one account
Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.
Montreal Gazette ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, where you can share and comment..
SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES
There with you then. Here with you now. As a critical part of the community for over 245 years,The Gazette continues to deliver trusted English-language news and coverage on issues that matter. Subscribe now to receive:
Unlimited online access to our award-winning journalism including thought-provoking columns by Allison Hanes, Josh Freed and Bill Brownstein.
Opportunity to engage with our commenting community and learn from fellow readers in a moderated forum.
Unlimited online access to the Montreal Gazette and National Post, including the New York Times Crossword, and 14 more news sites with one account
Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.
Montreal Gazette ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, where you can share and comment..
REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES
There with you then. Here with you now. As a critical part of the community for over 245 years,The Gazette continues to deliver trusted English-language news and coverage on issues that matter. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.
Access articles from across Canada with one account.
Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.
Enjoy additional articles per month.
Get email updates from your favourite authors.
Sign In or Create an Account
or
Article content
The tours are open to everyone and are the initiative of longtime auxiliary leader Donna Carroll, who was inspired by a tour she took of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. They are a project of the Friends of the MUHC, a successor to the auxiliaries of the Royal Victoria Hospital, the Montreal Children’s Hospital and the Montreal Chest Institute, which folded before the move from downtown to the new site in 2015. Carroll, a former president of both the RVH and Montreal Chest auxiliaries, is a founding member.
Each tour group is accompanied by two guides, part of a core group of 10 volunteers — mainly retired nurses, hospital administrators or former auxiliary presidents. During a recent visit arranged for the Montreal Gazette, guides were Carroll, Joanne MacPhail, who retired as assistant director of professional services for the MUHC adult sites, and Alexandra Kirsh, curator of the RBC Art and Heritage Centre of the MUHC. Kirsh, who occasionally joins the public tours, gives specialized art tours of the MUHC on request.
The tour is both informative and entertaining.
Today’s One Read
Get the most interesting story of the day.
By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.
Thanks for signing up!
A welcome email is on its way. If you don’t see it, please check your junk folder.
The next issue of Today’s One Read will soon be in your inbox.
We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again
Article content
Advertisement 3
Story continues below
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
The Glen campus, which has five sites, is divided into blocks: the Montreal Children’s (A and B blocks); the Royal Victoria (C and D blocks); the Montreal Chest Institute (D); the Cedars Cancer Centre (D); and the Research Institute of the MUHC (E). The tour covers public areas, including the main galleria on the RC level, the P.K. Subban atrium at the Montreal Children’s and some of the 11 MUHC public art installations. Stops include the Cedars Cancer Centre and the Research Institute. The tour dips into an area known as the spine — a corridor that is otherwise off-limits to the public.
The Shriners Hospital for Children, the Canadian branch of the Shriners Hospitals for Children network, is on the Glen campus, adjacent to the Montreal Children’s Hospital, but it is not part of the MUHC and is not part of the tour.
The tour does not visit patient rooms, although they are mentioned: There are 500 patient beds — 154 pediatric beds in B block and 346 adult beds on five floors of in-patient units in C and D blocks — and all patient rooms are private, each with its own bathroom. This has caused infection rates to plummet. The setup also means privacy, security and quiet for patients, Carroll said. “It’s easier to get well if a patient has quiet and peace.”
Guides pointed out artifacts on exhibit, from the fine china used in the Royal Victoria’s old Ross pavilion, built in 1916 to accommodate private patients, to vintage pharmaceutical bottles and medical equipment and a display devoted to Dr. Norman Bethune, the Canadian surgeon who was a hero to the people of China. Bethune, who worked for a time at the Royal Victoria, developed surgical tools and was an early champion of socialized medicine. In the 1930s, he travelled to China, where he performed emergency battlefield operations and trained doctors and nurses. He died in 1939, of sepsis.
A 3.5-ton Carrara marble statue of Queen Victoria, presented to founders of the Royal Victoria in 1897, remained at the downtown site on Pine Ave. W. for 117 years. The queen is depicted with two children and one of the marble children lost part of a toe at some point. The statue was transported from downtown to the Glen site in 2014 and, during a restoration underwritten by nursing alumna of the Royal Victoria, a replacement digit was moulded of marble powder and epoxy.
Advertisement 4
Story continues below
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
All 16 Photos for Gallery
Function Not Available
Full Screen is not supported on this browser version.
You may use a different browser or device to view this in full screen.
Other pieces of information shared by guides:
Colour coding is usedin signs and documents referring to the different sites, in part so patients and visitors can find their way around more easily: turquoise for the Montreal Children’s; dark blue for the Royal Victoria; orange for the Chest Institute; green for the Cedars Cancer Centre.
The pattern of the coloured north-facing windows at the front of the MUHC represents a DNA helix. The colours are staggered, with a concentration of yellows on the Children’s side and blues on the Royal Victoria side.
The MUHC emergency departmentis designed like a huge J, with three long corridors: adult patient rooms down the east side, pediatric patient rooms down the west side, and a working area for staff down the middle. A dedicated radiology department lies along the bottom of the J. The proximity “prevents the long waits and stretchers in the corridors that used to be an issue in the old Vic main radiology department,” said MacPhail, who was assistant DPS of the Royal Victoria before taking on the MUHC job.
The MUHC complex has 58 elevators, with dedicated elevators for patients and for equipment. Laundry and garbage are transported in separate elevators.
Advertisement 5
Story continues below
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
The 11 public works of art are integrated into the MUHC as part of a requirement by Quebec’s culture ministry that public buildings devote one per cent of their budget to artwork. But because the total construction budget was so large, the $4.3 million spent totalled less than one per cent, Kirsh said.
One of the most recognizable pieces is Havre, a curved shape standing 13 metres high outside on the hospital centre’s main plaza. The interlacing fingers of the sculpture, by artist Linda Covet, are intended as an homage to the MUHC community, “who have joined together from different hospitals to form a unified team.”
Stops included one at Prendre le pouls, an eight-metre-high stethoscope outside on the cafeteria terrace by two artists who call themselves Cooke-Sasseville. Its headset is aimed at the hospital and the chest piece directed at the community to “reflect the important role that listening plays in the doctor-patient relationship.”
Visible through the windows of the P.K. Subban atrium, Je suis là, by Michel Saulnier, depicts a giant bear who walks on the planets to travel between the stars.
Advertisement 6
Story continues below
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
Suspended five storeys high in the atrium of the Research Institute, where 1,200 researchers have come together from 64 sites, is a reflective stainless steel reproduction of a human hemoglobin macro-molecule by artist Nicolas Baier.
A wood surface mural, Lux Domum, in the Cedars Cancer Centre features two concave domes embedded in a surface of Quebec maple — one white gold, one yellow gold. The work is by Martha Townsend, who lost two sisters to cancer. The work represents the journey of having cancer, in which people often question everything, the guides explained.
Corridor walls in the Cedars Centre are hung with various forms of art, including a series of lithographs by Picasso and posters of cutout works by Matisse. Matisse began to create these cut-paper collages when cancer surgery left him disabled and unable to paint or sculpt, guides explained.
“The corridor argues for the purpose of art and careful curation in hospital,” Kirsh said. Literature on art for hospitals says that work should be figurative and that landscapes are a good choice, but she feels otherwise. “I say art is for everyone and it says different things to different people.”
Advertisement 7
Story continues below
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
AT A GLANCE
Tours of the MUHC’s Glen site, 1001 Décarie Blvd., will be given Oct. 17 and Nov. 7 and 21. The tour leaves at 1:30 p.m from the Friends of the MUHC banner opposite the security desk on the RC level. Wear comfortable shoes: The tour is about 5,000 steps (almost four kilometres). Reservations are recommended but not required. Reserve at heritage@muhc.mcgill.ca. More about the MUHC at muhc.ca/muhc-glance.
Comments