About Us

Welcome to HWMH

HOW A DREAM BECAME A REALITY….

The residents of Dunnville wanted to commemorate the soldiers who had fought overseas in the First World War. William Fry, publisher of the Dunnville Chronicle, obtained property on John Street between Lock and Broad, formerly owned by the late Judge Swayze. Dunnville Mayor B. Edgscombe and businessman turned politician Frank R. Lalor were approached and Lalor used $5000 he had earned as a Member of Parliament to purchase the property.

On October 15, 1920 he turned the deed over to the Dunnville Women’s Patriotic Society. One stipulation was that the property was to be used as a public hospital to be called Haldimand War Memorial Hospital in memory of the brave soldiers who gave their lives in the war. A permanent board of governors was selected in order to take advantage of the experience and knowledge acquired from the hospital’s inception. The deed was given to the Dunnville Women’s Patriotic Society due to the fact that they were the only chartered philanthropic society in Haldimand and so were legally qualified to hold property.

The Hospital opened February 3, 1920 with 20 beds, a small nursery, a small operating room and a portable x-ray machine, used only for fractures. Today we have 22 Acute Care Beds, 13 Complex care beds and 2 Respite Care Beds. Our surgical services include General Surgery, Endoscopy, minor Urology and Cataract surgery. Our Diagnostic Imaging department supports our community through the provision of the following services: General x-ray, Computed Tomography (CT/CAT Scan), Ultrasound, Mammography / Ontario Breast Screening Program (OBSP), Bone Density, Holter Monitors and Electrocardiogram (ECG). We are proud to be the only provider of Computed Tomography in Haldimand County.

Visiting specialists also hold clinics in our newly renovated outpatient clinic space to provide a complete range of care for our community.
From its inception, Haldimand War Memorial Hospital was started to serve its community by providing the best possible care for its residents. Through the years, and many changes later, we are proud to say that goal has remained the same. Best care every person, every time.

We would like to acknowledge that our hospital is on the Haldimand Tract, the traditional territory of the Anishinabek, Haudenosaunee, and Neutral peoples.