In April 1907, John Dunn sold his large home facing Dunedine Street for $3,750 to be used as a hospital for Orillia. The site was two-and-a-quarter acres and accommodated an old brick-clad dwelling with 10 rooms. After a nine-month long renovation the Orillia General Hospital officially opened on May 28, 1908 with approximately 25 beds.
By 1916, Charles Harold Hale, publisher of the Packet and Times, became concerned with the number of soldiers returning from the war with severe health problems. Hale recommended that a hospital should be Orillia's unique war memorial, and that this hospital provide free medical care to soldiers and war Veterans form Orillia for as long as they lived. The leading doctors in the town, Arthur Ardagh and A.R. Harvie, agreed with the idea and convinced the other doctors with hospital privileges to provide free medical treatment to war veterans in gratitude and remembrance of their war service.
On November 26, 1921, the name of the hospital was changed to Orillia Soldiers' Memorial Hospital and the new building was completed in 1922 with a capacity of 70 beds. At this time, the original hospital became the Queen Mary Maternity Wing.
In 1966, a cenotaph was erected in front of the hospital and now serves as the location for Orillia's annual Remembrance Day ceremonies. The hospital is also home to a commemorative listing of those from Orillia who died in the First and Second World War.
