History

The Founding of Ville-Marie

THE FOUNDING OF THE HÔTEL-DIEU

Originally located on Saint-Paul Street at the corner of Saint-Sulpice Street, in Old Montreal, the Hôtel-Dieu hospital was founded by Jeanne Mance, who was also the co-founder – with Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve – of Montreal. First, Jeanne Mance had a dispensary built inside the palisade that the settlers had erected in the summer of 1642. This was followed by the construction of a real hospital outside Fort Ville-Marie. In 1645, because of the spring flooding, the hospital was moved to the other side of the Petite Rivière, on what would later become Saint-Paul Street.
Montreal, summer 1642 (Francis Back, Canada, 1991, Musée des Hospitalières de l’Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal © Raphaëlle and Félix Back)

A Nursing Community

THE ARRIVAL OF THE HOSPITALLERS

To start with, Jeanne Mance ran the Hôtel-Dieu on her own, aided by a few assistants and a surgeon. Then, in 1659, three Hospitallers of Saint-Joseph from La Flèche, in France, came to help her manage the hospital and care for its patients. This community would administer the hospital from 1677 to 1973.
Partial plan of the Hôtel-Dieu in 1645-1695 (Aristide Beaugrand-Champagne, Canada, 1942, RHSJM Archives)

A New Hôtel-Dieu

THE MOVE

In 1861 the Hospitallers moved the Hôtel-Dieu to an area known as the Terre de la Providence. This extensive strip of land, donated to the community by the Basset brothers in 1730, stretched at that time from Sherbrooke Street to Jean-Talon Street. The new convent complex, designed by the Montreal architect Victor Bourgeau, was built on Des Pins Avenue. The neighbourhood, still under construction, would develop around the Hospitallers’ building.
Saint-Patrice Ward (before 1909, RHSJM Archives)

The Fusion of Three Major Francophone Hospitals

THE CREATION OF THE CHUM

The Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM), founded in 1996, is the product of the fusion of the Hôtel-Dieu, Notre-Dame hospital and Saint-Luc hospital. In 2017 the CHUM’s new premises, uniting the three hospitals, opened in downtown Montreal. That same year, all the Hôtel-Dieu’s patients were transferred to the new mega-hospital.
Hôtel-Dieu patients being transferred to the CHUM (2017, Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal)

The Third Voyage

THE HOSPITALLERS MAKE A MOVE

After the sale of their monastery to the City of Montreal, the community moved into the wing running along Des Pins Avenue, which was entirely renovated and is now known as the Maison des Hospitalières.
Maison des Hospitalières (Gilbert Langlois, 2020, Musée des Hospitalières de l’Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal)

A Historic Site

AT THE HEART OF THE CITY

Composed of a monastery, a hospital, a garden, a crypt and three chapels, the Hospitallers’ convent complex remains a focal point of the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough and the protected area of Mount Royal.
View from Mount Royal (about 1900, RHSJM Archives)