Richmond residents can take heart in knowing they have a great local hospital looking after the needs of the people in our community. But prior to 1966, Richmond didn't even have a hospital. It took 13 years of hard work by dedicated residents to get the hospital built. One of those people who helped make it happen was Dr. Richard (Dick) Talmey.
In 1953, Richmond was feeling the growth of the post-war baby boom. New residents were attracted by cheap housing ($10,000!) and subdivisions began to appear in what were once rural fields. While Richmond did have doctors, patients requiring hospital care had to go to Vancouver.
Originally from Rosthern, Sask., Dr. Talmey moved to Richmond in the 1940s and opened a practice. Dr. John Varley, who joined Dr. Talmey’s office in 1954, said in a 2006 interview that the community had grown to the point where it needed a hospital. “Dick Talmey was really involved in spearheading (the hospital project),” said Dr. Varley.
In October 1953, Dr. Talmey met with Richmond residents, Sam Montgomery and Rev. Thomas Edwards, to begin a plan to get a hospital built in Richmond. Two months later, 70 people met in Richmond High to launch the Richmond Hospital Society. Fred Aberdeen, who was then a principal at Garden City, became the society’s first president. Dr. Talmey was named honorary president.
“In Vancouver there aren’t nearly enough hospital beds for Vancouver alone. Emergencies usually go in an extra bed in the middle of a crowded room. A hospital in Richmond would benefit every man, woman and child,” Dr. Talmey, who chaired the first meeting, said at the time. Richmond patients would spend more than 30,000 bed days in Vancouver hospitals in 1954, he noted.
The Richmond Hospital Society spent 10 years fighting to get the hospital built—there were delays in provincial approval, but in a referendum in 1962, voters said “yes” to Richmond Hospital with Richmond taxpayers expected to pay 35% of the roughly $3.2 million cost of the hospital with the provincial and federal governments paying 50% and 15% respectively, according to the Vancouver Sun. In 1964, construction finally began.
On Feb. 27, 1966, Richmond Hospital opened with Dr. Talmey as its first chief of medical staff. He was among those honoured for their role in getting Richmond a hospital. “Any contribution that I have made pales in comparison to the work done by the (hospital) society over the past 13 years,” Dr. Talmey said at the time. (Fred Aberdeen was also honoured that day and special mention was given to long-time board members Ella Cunningham and Mae Talmey.) He vowed that medical staff “would endeavour to supply the same calibre of care as you and this hospital deserve.”
Dick Talmey passed away in 1982, but he left a strong legacy in the community and at the hospital. His dream of a hospital for Richmond resulted in a groundswell of community effort to get it built. So many people volunteered their time to lobby politicians, canvas for community support, raise funds and plan the hospital’s direction.
Fifty years have flown by and the original North Tower now needs to be replaced to house new operating rooms, new patient beds and address seismic issues to ensure modern, state-of-the-art is here for our growing and rapidly aging population of residents, employees and the many passengers who travel to and from our province.
But then, as now, Richmond Hospital remains a vital part of the community, and we rely on generous donations made to Richmond Hospital Foundation, the support of residents, the advocacy of our diverse community leaders and the commitment of government to invest in a new tower sooner rather than later.
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