Fonds - R.W. Large Memorial Hospital fonds

R.W. Large Memorial Hospital, originally known as Bella Bella Hospital, is located in Bella Bella, British Columbia. The town of Bella Bella is located on Campbell Island, along the central coast of the province. The hospital serves residents of the town and the surrounding area, including the Heiltsuk Nation.

Medical missionary work first began in Bella Bella in the late 1890s when Dr. Albert Edward Bolton, alongside the Rev. Thomas Crosby, traveled along the coast providing medical services as part of the Methodist Church of Canada’s missionary efforts. They often traveled on the mission ship Glad Tidings. During this time, Dr. Bolton established a medical mission in Bella Bella and a summer hospital at Rivers Inlet, to the southeast. Many medical staff would work both in Bella Bella and spend summers at the River Inlet Hospital in the coming years. In 1897, Dr. J.A. Jackson was sent by the Methodist Church to run the summer hospital at Rivers Inlet and the medical Mission at Bella Bella. Jackson died a year later and was replaced by Dr. Richard Whitfield Large. Dr. Large was given permanent charge of the Bella Bella medical mission in December of 1898. A full hospital was built by the end of 1902. A training school for nurses was opened in 1903 and remained open until 1935.

The original hospital burned down in the summer of 1904. A larger hospital was built and opened in 1906 to replace it. In 1910, Dr. Large was transferred to the missionary hospital at Port Simpson. The next permanent medical missionary doctor was George Darby, who arrived with his wife, Edna Darby, in 1914 and would serve in Bella Bella until 1959.
Responding to local needs, a new hospital was opened in 1918. It was renamed R.W. Large Memorial Hospital following Dr. Large’s death in 1920. During this time, a hospital boat was also based out of Bella Bella. The hospital boat provided for quick access to remote sites and until the 1940s had a permanently assigned doctor working aboard for most of the year. The hospital boat remained in use well into the 1960s.

After the creation of The United Church of Canada in 1925, the Methodist missionary hospitals in Bella Bella and Rivers Inlet came under its authority. In 1929, the United Church officially decided to continue to operate the medical missions in places where it was difficult to establish municipal hospitals.

During the 1940s and 1950s, medical students worked for short periods of time in Bella Bella with Dr. Darby. In 1952, a second full-time physician joined the staff at R.W. Large Memorial Hospital. After Dr. Darby, several physicians worked at R.W. Large Memorial Hospital for long periods of time but recruitment became a challenge. To help with staffing, short-term physicians and locums were used. This also allowed specialists to come to Bella Bella to provide specialized medical care. A new hospital building was completed and opened 1973.

The United Church of Canada shifted control of health services over to the United Church Health Services Society in 2008. The Society continued to operate R.W. Large Memorial Hospital until 2014, when Vancouver Coastal Health took over full operation of the Hospital.