Introduction of Dr. George Leslie Mackay

Dr. Mackay
Dr. Mackay was born in Canada
and died in Tamsui (1844- 1901).

Dr. George Leslie Mackay was born in Zola Village, Oxford County, Ontario, Canada on March 21, 1844. On March 9, 1872, the Canadian Presbyterian Church commissioned him to go to Taiwan as a medical missionary.

In 1880, Dr. Mackay founded the Mackay Clinic in Tamshui, which was the first Western hospital in the northern part of Taiwan. It was here in the humble surroundings of Tamshui where Dr. Mackay treated many patients, in the mean while proclaiming the gospels of Christ.

They treated patients who suffered from diseases such as malaria, which was a serious disease at that time. Besides treating patients, Dr. Mackay often preached and brought Taiwanese Christians along with his medical and evangelistic tours in northern Taiwan. With the Bible in one hand and forceps in the other, he often defied mountains, rivers and jungles overgrowth to do medical evangelism.

Although practicing medicine and evangelizing Taiwan was a very difficult work at that time, Dr. Mackay endured for over 30 years. During that time, he not only pulled over 20,000 teeth, but also proclaimed the Gospel to many different people around the island. Moreover, he established more than 60 churches and baptized more than 4,000 followers. On June 2, 1901, Dr. George Leslie Mackay died of throat cancer in Tamshui. At that time, the work at the Tamshui clinic came to a halt.

In 1911 ，Dr. J.Y.Ferguson moved the clinic to Taipei and renamed it as Mackay Memorial Hospital in honor of Dr. Mackay