Hutchinson Clinic (80 Sandwich St. S., Amherstburg, Ontario)

Recollections (Late 1980s, 1990s)

I remember occasionally going to the Hutchinson Clinic that was located at 80 Sandwich St. S. in Amherstburg, Ontario during the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s. It was a medical clinic with several family physicians.

The building was a relatively plain, rectangular, one-storey structure with light beige or light gray bricks for the bulk of its facade. I recall there being a prominent Rod of Asclepius fixture on the east wall, easily visible from Sandwich St. S.

This is approximately how I recall it being laid out internally at that time:

The main entrances were at the south end of the building, on the east and west sides. I don’t remember ever using the east entrance that faced Sandwich St. S., since it was more convenient when arriving by car to use the west entrance that faced the parking lot that was located directly behind (west of) the building.

The waiting room spanned the space between the east and west entrances at the south end of the building. The reception desk was located near the middle of the north side of the waiting room area. I recall there also being a small room or semi-enclosed area near the north-east corner of the waiting room where blood samples could be taken for blood tests.

I remember there being two hallways running to the north from the waiting room, with one hallway to the west of the reception desk, and another to the east. This divided up the bulk of the rest of the building into three north-south sets of rooms. One set of rooms was between the building’s west wall and the west hallway, the centre set of rooms was between the two hallways and directly north of the reception desk, and there was another set of rooms between the east hallway and the building’s east wall.

Every appointment I can remember going to there was in a medical exam room among the east set of rooms. I’m not sure how many of these rooms there were in total, and I don’t know how they were allocated to the different physicians.

The exam room (or possibly rooms) that I remember being in was rectangular in shape, and perhaps 10 feet or so wide by 15 feet or so deep. There was a doorway on the west wall connecting to the east hallway, with a door that could be closed for privacy. The east wall was solid, without any windows.

Along the south wall, I recall there being a medical exam table, a mechanical physician scale, and other medical equipment. Along the north wall, there was a desk for the doctor to use to the east, along with a couple of waiting room style chairs to the west of that. I think there may have been a sink in the room, possibly near the south-west corner of the room.

I believe that there were various posters and diagrams affixed to the walls of the exam room. I don’t remember other decorations; the room seemed to be quite utilitarian.

The patient charts were paper based, and stored in folders that an assistant would drop into a holder that was affixed either to the door or to one of the inside walls of the exam room. I don’t recall there being a computer in the exam room that the doctor could use for electronic record keeping; I believe it was all done by hand.

I recall at least some of the rooms in the centre area between the two hallways being accessible from either side (i.e., it was possible to look through the doorway while in one hallway and to see through to the other hallway). I think these were storage rooms, equipment rooms, utility rooms, etc., that were used by the nurses, assistants, and other staff.

Directly behind the reception desk, I remember there being a large opening in the wall that connected to a patient records storage room at the south end of the centre set of rooms. Shelves full of charts could be seen from the waiting room.

I’m not sure what was in the west rooms; I don’t recall ever being brought to a room down that hallway.

I’m also not sure if the doctors had office rooms. Any consultation I remember being at was always in an exam room. If the doctors did have offices, they may have been located toward the north end of the building.

The clinic closed sometime around 2000 or so, although I don’t remember exactly when.

Other Information

The history of the clinic as of the mid-to-late 1990s is described on pages 188 and 189.

A variety of articles and reader letters in The Windsor Star mention the clinic:

“Health: Urgent-care centre fills ER gap” (22 Apr 1997; A3): The clinic was included in a list of “Walk-In Clinics”, with its hours at the time listed as 9 AM to 5 PM from Monday to Friday, and 9 AM to noon on Saturday.
“Family doctors demand fees to keep clinic open; MDs' college mum on 'threatening' letter” (24 Apr 2000; A1/FRONT)": Covers the announced closure of the clinic, which was given as being “July 1”.
“Clinic closure impact 'dire'; Loss of family doctors will hit community hard, says area MD” (25 Apr 2000; A5): Followup coverage about the closure of the clinic.
“MDs get some support” (26 Apr 2000; A5): Followup coverage about the closure of the clinic.
“TALKING POINT A CHANCE TO HAVE YOUR SAY” (26 Apr 2000; A9): Contains a reader letter commenting about the closure of the clinic.
“TALKING POINT A CHANCE TO HAVE YOUR SAY” (28 Apr 2000; A11): Contains some reader letters commenting about the closure of the clinic.
“TALKING POINT A CHANCE TO HAVE YOUR SAY” (02 May 2000; A9): Contains a reader letter commenting about the closure of the clinic.
“TALKING POINT A CHANCE TO HAVE YOUR SAY” (04 May 2000; A7): Contains a reader letter commenting about the closure of the clinic.
“Town rejects MD bailout; A'burg physician says clinic will close” (03 July 2002; A5): While discussing the closure of the subsequent clinic that was located at White Woods Mall, it mentions the earlier closure of the Hutchinson Clinic.

Some of the messages left at the online obituaries of Dr. John R. Greenaway (1941-2021) mention Hutchinson Clinic or his time as a physician in Amherstburg:

The obituary of Mary Louise Mayville (1943-2025) mentions that she “was employed for 25 years working at the Hutchinson Clinic”.

Based on the business signs in the Google Street View imagery from August 2018, the building was used for the Amherstburg office of RE/MAX Preferred Realty Ltd., and the Amherstburg location of 2 Waves Beauty Bar.

Google Street View imagery from June 2025 still showed the RE/MAX Preferred Realty Ltd. sign.

As of 2025, the exterior of the building looks very similar to how I remember it looking in the 1990s when it was the medical clinic.