The Globe February 17, 1925
Work Will Begin in Spring on Building to Cost $400,000
TO GUARD PUBLIC HEALTH
Early in the spring work will start on the first School of Hygiene in Canada, and the third of its kind to be erected on the continent. The building will cost $400,000, and will he located just north of College Street, adjacent to the old University Y.M.C.A., which at present is being used as an insulin laboratory.
To provide the building and endow the school, the Rockefeller Foundation has pledged $650,000 to the Governors of the university. Negotiations with the Foundation have been completed, and plane are now being prepared for what will be one of the finest buildings added in re- cent years to the University of Toronto.
A Complete School.
The school will include the Departments of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, Public Health, Nursing and the Connaught Laboratories. The operating divisions of the laboratories -insulin and anti-toxin- which have been conducted separately, will be merged, and will constitute a public service section in the school.
Prof. J. G. Fitzgerald, Director of the Connaught Laboratories, will be in charge of tho school, and the endowment from the Rockefeller Foundation will make possible several full-time appointments to the staff. It is also planned to provide additional fellowships in connection with the department.
Provides Specialized Training.
Realizing the need of special training for public health workers, the university has been conducting, on a limited scale, for some years a post- graduate course in hygiene and preventive medicine leading to the diploma of public health. With the new building and the accompanying endowment this work will be developed to a much greater extent, and within a few years there will be a specialized personnel, thoroughly grounded in the underlying sciences land familiar with the best methods of practical application and administration to supervise the public health work of the Province. It w the intention eventually to insist on all Medical Officers of Health in the larger communities being equipped with their specialized training.
Equal of Any School.
While a partial public health program has been included in the curriculum of many medical schools in |Britain, several in the United States and one or two in Canada, no institution has had the resources to provide a well-rounded course, with satisfactory equipment and an adequate, specialized staff.
To meet the growing demand for proper public health training, the Rockefeller Foundation has endowed Schools of Hygiene and Public Health. at Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University, London, England, Prague and Warsaw, and is now doing the same thing at Toronto.
Tribute to Health Officers.
The high reputation of the civic Dr. Department of Health, under Hastings, and the Provincial Department, under Dr. McCullough, and the very close co-operation of both departments with the Connaught Laboratories, had much to do with of the section of the University Toronto by Rockefeller Foundation. The Foundation insists on experience being provided under expert guidance in the practical work of the public health laboratory, the bureau of vital statistics, the health centre, baby welfare station, the house-to-house service of the sanitary inspector and the public health nurse, and nowhere in Canada, it is claimed, could the practical experience be gained under such ideal conditions as in Toronto.
Will Aid Expansion.
The Connaught Laboratories, under the direction of Dr. J. G. Fitzgerald, head of the new school, have gradually been extending their work over the whole of Canada. present time anti-toxin is provided by the laboratories for all the Western and practically all the Eastern Provinces in the Dominion, and insulin has been provided in much the same way. Even Newfoundland draws medical supplies of this kind will give to the laboratories facilities from Toronto. The new building for much-needed expansion.