The fifth and final stop on the Florence Orrell Memorial Tour is the most essential service in Richards Landing, Matthews Memorial Hospital.

Unlike Mrs. Florence Orrell's other contributions where she donated a building to the community, in the case of Matthews Memorial Hospital she helped by donating equipment and other resources.

Aligning with her vision, Mrs. Florence Orrell specified that her donations to Matthews Memorial Hospital were used to support women and children.

(Crawford, 2000)

As the average population of St. Joseph Island continues to age, the importance of Matthews Memorial Hospital to St. Joseph Island's community increases.

Located in Downtown Richards Landing, the hospital offers 24-hour emergency services and two 24-hour observation beds for patient assessment and stabilization.

Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN) services are available, which provides access to specialized medical care using video conferencing and other tele-diagnostic equipment, allowing specialists to remotely examine and prescribe treatments to patients in their home communities.

(NSHN, 2020)

After World War I, the Canadian Red Cross wanted to build "Outpost Hospitals" in rural areas.

After meeting with members of St. Joseph Island Township and town council, an agreement was made to establish a hospital on St. Joseph Island.

In 1925, the community raised enough funds to purchase a large home previously owned by John Richards, the founder of Richards Landing, to be used as the hospital.

Following a fire in 1929 that destroyed the hospital, Mrs. M. Mathews offered to build the new hospital in memory of her late husband.

Other generous donations for the new hospital came from Miss Mamie Grindley and Mrs. Florence Orrell.

Matthews Memorial Hospital officially opened in 1930.

(sootoday.com, 2017)

A document from the early days of the hospital identifies Mrs. Florence Orrell making a generous donation, in memory of her mother, to cover the expenses of young children and elderly women.

In 1934, Mrs. Florence Orrell donated an x-ray machine and covered the instillation.

Mrs. Florence Orrell would make her donations using her late husbands name, William Orrell.

A bronze tablet was erected in 1953 to honour the numerous benefactors in the community that contributed to Matthews Memorial Hospital.

William Orrell can be found on that tablet but it is Mrs. Florence Orrell's contributions that are honoured.

(Crawford, 2000)

On June 15, 2016, Matthews Memorial Hospital integrated with Thessalon and Blind River District Health Centre (BRDHC) to form the North Shore Health Network (NSHN).

(NSHN, 2020)

Matthews Memorial Hospital is open 24 hours, 7 days a week for emergency services.

Matthews Memorial Hospital is recognized as partially accessible.

Parking - not accessible (parking on the street)

Entrance - accessible (at the back of the building with automatic door button)

Washroom - not accessible

(NSHN, 2020)

Crawford, C. E. (2000). The Island Fairy Godmother: Florence Whaley Orrell. Sarn Farm Press.

Sootoday article

North Shore Health Network