Cottage Hospital System

When Newfoundland became part of Canada in 1949, it already provided its people with provincial hospital insurance through its cottage hospital system. Developed to meet the medical care needs that were unique to Newfoundland’s population, cottage hospitals served 1,500 communities along 7,000 miles of coastline, and were provincially owned and staffed by salaried doctors who could also maintain a private practice. Nearly one-half of Newfoundland families paid a premium of $10 per family to receive prepaid medical and hospital care through the cottage hospital system. The system demonstrated how a provincial government could overcome geographical challenges to deliver medical care to its people.

Dr. C. A. Forbes had been chief physician of the Bonavista Cottage Hospital since the hospital’s founding in 1940. He is at the centre of this staff photograph taken circa 1947.
Maritime History Archive, PF-318.280