Recently, for a minor medical reason, I was referred to Hôpital Sacré Coeur de Montréal, located in the Ahuntsic/Cartierville neighbourhood, North of Montréal. Instead of using the major highway, we decided to travel via Gouin Boulevard. Motoring along a pleasant country road, filled with all manner of houses, trees, flowers and bushes, it was a very enjoyable route.
The reason I wanted to write about this hospital I had never seen before was because when we arrived and I saw the majestic gateway that led up to the main entrance, I thought at first the building may have once been a cathedral.
Although the photo below was taken C. 1940, it looks exactly the same today.
Publisher: Novelty Manufacturing and Art Co. Ltd., Montreal
It intrigued me so much that I wanted to learn about the history of this striking building. As we approached the parking lot, I could see the huge cross on the top of the building. The original stonework, which was masterly, really stood out to me.
Picture Alexis Hamel
The original stonework would reflect the architectural styles popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, potentially incorporating elements of the Victorian or Beaux-Arts styles common for public buildings of that era.
Picture Marian Bulford
Excited to begin researching, I found a lot of interesting information. For instance, did you know that the institution was originally founded on June 1, 1898, the day of the Feast of the Sacred Heart, by a small group of women located in a building in downtown Montréal? (1)
They named it the Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal, and the women cared for a dozen ill individuals, deemed the ‘incurables’. An unfortunate name, but cancer and patients with serious diseases were incurable then. By 1902, support care was provided by the Sisters of Providence.
In 1900, the hospital moved to a larger building on Décarie Boulevard in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (NDG). and was known as the Hôpital des Incurables.
Hôpital des Incurables.
This building was destroyed by fire in March 1923, and in 1926, a new building was built on Gouin Boulevard in Cartierville, where it still stands today. With the new building, the administration reverted to using the original name, Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal.
Initially, it specialised in the treatment of tuberculosis. This was soon followed by the development of orthopaedic surgery (Dr. Édouard Samson, 1931) and thoracic surgery (Dr. Norman Bethune, 1933). In 1973, the Hospital became a tertiary care trauma centre for Western Quebec, together with the Institut Albert-Prévost, to provide psychiatric care and was affiliated with the University of Montreal as a research and teaching centre.(2)
In 2022, an expansion by Provencher_Roy and Yelle Maillé was completed, adding 16,252 square meters, which complements this heritage structure. (4)
Although a visit to a hospital is sometimes an anxious experience, the building and staff at Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal were most helpful and attentive. Young volunteers are situated on each floor, ready to give directions to various parts of this now vast hospital.
Along Gouin Boulevard, we passed the affiliated Institut Albert-Prévost, set in a pleasant park-like area, before reaching the Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal.
Entrance to the Institut Albert-Prévost
Before becoming a hospital, Albert-Prévost may have changed names from sanatorium to pavilion, but never its vocation: it has been treating mental health problems for over 100 years. This influence is due as much to the teaching it provides as to the care it gives.
Who was Albert Prévost?
Albert Prévost
He was a Quebec neurologist and forensic physician, born in 1881 and died in 1926. He was the first holder of the chair of neurology at the Université Laval in Montreal and the founder of the institute that bears his name. (5)
SOURCES
(1) (2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%B4pital_du_Sacr%C3%A9-C%C5%93ur_de_Montr%C3%A9al
(3 ) https://www.mcgill.ca/medicalmuseum/exhibits/postcard-collection/post-cards/sacre-coeur
(5) https://fondationhscm.org/fhscm-1/hospital-albert-prevost
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