It started in 1912 as a small dispensary providing free medical care to newly arrived, often poor, immigrants of all backgrounds, sponsored by Montreal’s Jewish community.

It grew and developed into what is today the multi-faceted and bustling Herzl Family Practice Centre, part of the Jewish General Hospital.

This evolution, and a video on it called Dockside to Bedside: 100 Years of Herzl, were the focus of a recent talk by Dr. Michael Malus, the hospital’s chief of family medicine and Herzl Centre director.

The Herzl continues to serve Montreal’s immigrant communities and is part of a comprehensive system that includes regular and walk-in clinics.

Malus, a poet and McGill University graduate, has worked in Canada and the U.S. He is part of the steering committee overseeing a North American Task Force on creating guidelines for primary-care physicians in treating adolescent depression.