About Us

• Emergency services

• Diagnostic services

• Laboratory services

• Clinic and outpatient services

• Diabetes Education Centre

• Dialysis, Discharge Planning

• Mental Health (In Patient and Out Patient) – we are a Schedule 1, 20 bed in-patient facility)

• Obstetrics

• Palliative Care

• Pharmacy

• Physiotherapy

• Speech Language Therapy

• Surgical Support. Our surgical services include:

• On call surgical services for emergent cases

• Endoscopic procedures ( gastroscopy and colonoscopy)

• General surgery ( appendix, gallbladder, hernia, bowel)

• Gynecological/ obstetrical surgery ( hysterectomies, vaginal repairs, laparoscopies, tubal ligations, caesarian sections)

 

90% of all medical equipment & technology is funded through community support of our Foundation.

Despite what you might believe, the Government does not fully fund healthcare in Ontario. At the Alexandra Marine & General Hospital, over 90% of all medical equipment & technology is funded through community support of our Foundation. Our caring and generous community ensures that our healthcare teams can continue to deliver fast, accurate diagnosis and exceptional care.

Here are some of our recent achievements:

The hospital's first CT scanner was purchased and began testing patients in 2007. The average life of a CT Scanner is 10 years and ours needed to be replaced. So in 2019 the All In Campaign was underway and resulted in a campaign achievement of 4,530,000. The funds were used to replace the existing CT Scanner ($1.9million) and complete a refresh to our Mental Health Unit. Our Schedule 1, 20 bed Mental Health facility is over 40 years old and has no physical changes or upgrades since it was built. The remaining funds from the All In Campaign are being used for the Mental Health unit and that work will be complete summer 2025.

The Foundation funds all capital equipment needs that are patient centered and in 2023 -24 we funded 1,458,700 in equipment. Equipment like a new Ultrasound machine, OR lights, Lift/Turn Patient beds, mechanical ceiling lifts, an Endoscopy for Or and so many other pieces of vital diagnostic and treatment equipment.

Our goal as a community hospital is to provide quality patient care that meets the needs of our growing community. We are developing a strong vision for the future of Alexandra Marine and General Hospital, for patients and families to receive health care close to home.
# insert button with link to ‘Mission, Vision, and Values’ page labelled “Mission Vision and Values” #

How the name Alexandra Marine & General Hospital was chosen

Alexandra (Caroline Marie Charlotte Louisa Julia) - the namesake of our Alexandra Marine and General Hospital, and Queen from 1901 to 1910, was immensely popular, and a generous advocate of access to healthcare for those living in poverty. In 1912, she granted her patronage to Alexandra Rose Day; an annual drive to sell roses in order to raise funds for the sick and needy. This charity has become an institution in the United Kingdom and is today known as the Alexandra Rose Charity. This was her most cherished legacy and life’s work. The Alexandra Rose Long Table Dinner is inspired by Alexandra’s patronage and advocacy for quality healthcare for all.

Alexandra Marine and General Hospital was named in honour of this lovely Queen.

Goderich was one of twelve Port hospitals named "Marine". The only reason hospitals existed was to serve the indigent and the poor, the wealthy had private hospitals or were looked after at home. In Goderich there was a "lying-in" hospital to care for new mothers and babies.
The Marine Hospitals catered to sailors on ships. In Goderich, according to historian Peter Sturdy, Captain Babb, who ran the Ocean House at the Harbour, would take up a collection from time to time for the hospital, to insure that good care would be provided for the sailors.

In the late 19th Century, a voluntary public general hospital was conceived as a charitable institution for the care of the sick and homeless poor.
Provision was made for the admission of indigent and other patients suitable for free treatment. Indigent patients required a signed certificate of admission from the elected head (reeve, mayor, warden) of any municipality, eligible through its financial support of the hospital, to nominate patients for admission.

Any person could be nominated for free treatment by an individual, society or business which had contributed sufficient funds to the trust to qualify for the right to nominate patients. A donation of $100 usually entitled the contributor to nominate patients for the equivalent of one patient-year of treatment. This helped to discourage long-stay, non-paying patients from tying up beds needed for acute care.

At that time, no respectable person who could afford private medical care would willingly set foot in a hospital, if only out of fear of contracting an illness, more life-threatening than the reason for admission.

Some public general hospitals were municipal institutions; others were sponsored by religious orders; most were the creations of voluntary committees of public-spirited citizens.