In 1945, Ellis Millard (1896-1977), having served in the Canadian Armed Forces as Sergeant Major in the First World War and then as Mayor of Southampton (1945-46), proposed building a hospital as a memorial to the men and women who gave their lives in the Second World War. The hospital was to serve as a memorial for the entire district, including Amabel, Aaran and Saugeen Townships, and the towns of Southampton and Port Elgin.
The Southampton Rotary Club was the first supporter with a pledge of $15,500 in September 1945. The establishment of the facility began with the purchase and repurposing of Hillcrest Lodge, a summer resort with many rooms originally built as the family home of Henry Zinkham, co-owner of the Bowman-Zinkham tanning factory on nearby Fairy Lake. Since the hospital’s official opening on October 16, 1947, with twenty-one adult beds, two children’s beds, and seven infant cubicles, the building has been remodeled and expanded with new additions in 1951, 1958, 1967, 1978, and 2019. Ellis Millard was elected Chair of the Hospital Board in 1947 and held the position until 1959 when he became Honorary Chair.
