About Us

On July 27 of 1925, the Polyclinic establishment opened its doors at 188 Prince Street as the result of the enterprise of three of Charlottetown's young doctors, who constituted its staff. They were Dr. J. Wendell Mackenzie (internal medicine), Dr. Rupert F. Seaman, (surgery and gynecology), and Dr. F. Wendell Tidmarsh, (diseases of children and obstetrics). The three young men were all natives of Charlottetown who had been classmates at West Kent, and so their paths had thereafter diverged widely, by 1925 all three were back in Charlottetown and were in the process of embarking on careers in the practice of medicine.

By 1930 the Polyclinic was firmly established, both as a business venture and as a professional group. During this era, the clinic expanded and added three new physicians, but the outbreak of war in 1939 drastically changed daily life in the Polyclinic as two of the physicians left to join the No. 7 Canadian General Hospital.

In 1946 land had been procured from the Provincial Government on which had formally stood the Agricultural Hall at 170-172 Fitzroy Street, lovingly referred to as the "White House" by staff and physicians alike. It became apparent, as more and more physicians joined the Polyclinic that an expansion would again be required to accommodate growth.

In 1986 the partnership group decided to move to its present location, 199 Grafton Street. Prior to the Polyclinic moving to this location, the Bridge-McConnell Building stood here. Destroyed by fire in 1972, the Bridge-McConnell Building on Hillsborough Street was known locally as the Purple Onion. It housed the Mills Meat Market in addition to a number of apartments and even a popular fortune teller. The Temperance Hall that once stood on the corner of Grafton and Prince Street played many important roles throughout the 19th century. It served variously as the Philharmonic Hall, the Athenaeum and the Methodist School and Kindergarten. From 1924 through 1968 it was home for the Guardian Publishing Company. It was torn down in June of 1969 to make way for the Provincial Government, and is now the present home of the Polyclinic Professional Center.