Fonds KGH 5999-1004 - Ann Baillie fonds

Born in Pictou County, Nova Scotia in 1888, Ann Baillie was admitted into the Kingston General Hospital Training School for Nurses as a probationer in September, 1907 and was accepted into the School in November. Following graduation in 1910, Baillie worked as a nurse for KGH until the advent of World War I. On May 5, 1915, she joined the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force. First stationed at the No. 5 Queen’s Canadian Stationary Hospital in Cairo, Egypt, her second assignment was with the No. 7 Hospital in France. For her ‘gallant and distinguished service’ in both hospitals throughout the war, she was awarded five medals. Following the war, Baillie worked for Ongwanada (the Sydenham Military) Hospital in Kingston before pursuing post-graduate work in Scranton, Pennsylvania and New York City. At Kingston General Hospital, recurring problems in retaining good personnel, particularly nursing leaders, brought Ann Baillie back to Kingston. In 1924, when Patience Carey resigned as Superintendent of Nurses, the Hospital’s Management Committee offered the position to former graduate Ann Baillie. One of her greatest challenges as the new Superintendent of Nurses was to return the quality of teaching and education in the Nursing School to pre-War standards so that the School could again appear on the distinguished New York list of approved nurses' training schools. Baillie had a lasting impact on the Training School and the lives and work of nurses at Kingston General Hospital during her eighteen years as Superintendent of Nurses. An early highlight in her career was the completion of the new Nurses’ home in 1928. She was also an active member of the Nurses’ Alumnae Association. In July 1941, Ann Baillie became ill but never fully recovered. Admitted to the Hospital on January 13, 1942, she died on February 5, 1942. Newspaper accounts reveal the strong sense of loss experienced by Hospital staff and the Kingston community.

Kingston General Hospital has been designated by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board to be of national historic significance as one of the longest continuously operating hospitals in Canada. The collection documents the transition of the hospital from a charitable institution to an active treatment hospital to a tertiary care institution in the Southeastern Ontario Health Sciences Centre. Kingston General Hospital is also historically significant for it's role as a temporary Parliament Building for the capital of the United Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada from 1841-1843.