Deborah Glaister-Hannay M.D.

Glaister graduated from the University of Toronto Medical School in 1932 and did post-graduate work in England. In 1936 she returned to Wellesley, Ontario to assist her ailing father with his medical practice. For several years, Dr. Debbie, as she was known, took on a busy rural caseload and she was Wellesley Township’s first female physician. Her deep compassion and professionalism made her very popular with her patients.

In 1943 the recently married Glaister-Hannay joined the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps where she qualified as Captain. After the war Glaister-Hannay had a full medical practice as Kitchener’s first female specialist. She later joined Freeport Hospital, eventually becoming the hospital’s chief of staff.

In 1999, Wellesley Township honoured its first female doctor by naming a road Deborah Glaister Line.