Royal University Hospital (Saskatoon)

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On a blustery May day in 1955 with temperatures hovering just above freezing, some 4,000 people gathered on campus for the opening of the University Hospital. The seven-storey, seven wing structure took eight years to construct and equip, costing the people of Saskatchewan over $13,000,000. Over 16,000 tons of native limestone, quarried five miles north of campus, were used to face the half mile perimeter of the building. Perched on the banks of the South Saskatchewan River and just inside the gates of the University, it was a grand and imposing structure.

It was the largest of the buildings that made up the university’s Medical Complex. It was tied directly to the Medical College Building and in proximity to the Nursing Residence (Ellis Hall) and the Hospital Laundry Building. Its opening resulted in a sudden and massive influx of specialists, many of whom held faculty positions with the College of Medicine. The University Hospital became the primary teaching and training base for the Colleges of Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy, as well as in a number of health care technologies.

Touted as a “modern well-equipped hospital,” the 550 bed facility was not without its flaws. The single glazed windows were no match for the Saskatchewan winter, the lack of proper illumination made night examinations difficult, but most importantly the design did not envision the growing dominance of medical specialties. Chronic lack of space and design flaws meant it was in a continual state of renovation. Without an independent source of income or a permanent endowment, it was at the mercy of the government of the day for funding. A major addition and renovation completed in 1979 transformed the original structure and addressed many of its shortcomings.

A transformation of another kind to place in 1990, when Governor General and University alumnus Ray Hnatyshyn conferred the designation Royal to the Royal University Hospital.

Today the hospital serves as the training ground for medical students at the U of S, as well as the main trauma center for the entire province. It houses many maternal and child services, neurosurgery and cardiovascular surgery.

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