In October 1873, seven Hospitallers of St. Joseph of Montreal arrived in Saint-Basile. They came to replace the Sisters of Charity of Saint John, NB, who had been in charge of l’Académie de Madawaska from 1857 to 1873. “Hospitallers” became teachers, but also intended to open a hospital.

Parallel development of two major works (1873 - 1936)

The Sisters had no sooner been installed in the former “Académie de Madawaska” when the sick hastened to them to receive medicine and care. Beginning November 5, 1873, the first patient was hospitalized in a room of the small convent. And, in response to the pressing requests of the people, the Hospitallers of St. Joseph opened a school and boarding facilities for girls in January, 1874. Five years later, day students were admitted free of charge.

The Hospitallers provision for care improved as well; a benefactor offered the necessary wood to enlarge the original building and, in 1881, the Madawaska region was equipped with a hospital of 14 beds. Then in 1885, the Academy became a public school for day students, as well as for the boarders and the orphans. In this way emerged the simultaneous beginning of two major works of the RHSJ’s of Saint-Basile.

However, there wasn’t enough space to conveniently lodge all these groups. The dynamic superior, Sister Maillet (Alphonsine Ranger) and the Sisters dared to open a brick-working operation on the grounds in 1885. Between 1885 and 1915, the bricks coming from this industry became the walls of a beautiful building (orphanage), a monastery and the chapel. In 1902, a boarding orphanage for boys was built of wood.

In 1915, the first brick wing (orphanage) was turned into hospital use with a capacity of 60 beds; the 57 Sisters of the community moved into their monastery located behind the chapel. The classrooms and the girls’ boarding/orphanage residents located to the old wooden wing; some rooms were reserved there for elderly convent retirees. Following the fire in the old wooden convent in 1935, another structure was built; beginning in the fall of 1936, the students, the retirees and some priests moved into a modern building.

Societal transformation in the years following the war brought great changes to the “convent” in Sainte-Basile, both for the hospital and the Academy.

In 1946, the sick who were hospitalized at the Hôtel Dieu of Saint-Basile were transferred to a completely new facility which the Hospitallers had constructed in Edmundston. The former Hôtel-Dieu was renovated to receive the elderly needing special care; this activity of the Hôtel-Dieu lasted until 1976, at which time these patients were transferred to the nearby Sanatorium Saint-Joseph. Apartments were prepared in the now vacant space for those desiring to live out their retirement under the shadow of the “silver bell”.

In 1947, the Eudist Fathers opened a college in Edmundston. The boarding school/orphanage for boys at Hôtel-Dieu was no longer needed, and closed in 1947. Other changes were to leave their mark at the old convent. In 1963, about 30 of the teaching sisters formed their own community group and moved, in 1967, to the renovated historic “white house” called Résidence Maillet, in memory of the famous Mère Maillet; as well the académie of the Hôtel-Dieu became known as l’Académie Maillet.

In 1970, secondary school classes were transferred to the Regional School, and the boarding school for girls closed the following year. The Académie, renamed Maillet Elementary School moved, in 1983, into the collège Maillet which had been vacated. Classrooms in the former académie de l’Hôtel-Dieu were turned into apartments for retirees.

The Collège Maillet opened in 1949, under the direction of Sister Rhéa Larose. This was in the space left vacant by the closing of the boys’ boarding school. Program development and the increasing number of students soon necessitated a larger and more functional location. In the fall of 1963, collegians, religious, normal school students, or young people in formation, moved into a beautiful new facility known as “the scholasticate”. This building was located behind the Hôtel-Dieu .

In June of 1972, the collège Maillet was merged with collège Saint-Louis d’Edmundston; only the medical and legal secretarial students had their courses at the Pavillon Maillet. It also remained an active presence on the cultural scene until 1980 as the centre for the Folkloric Group of Madawaska. In 1982, the building was ceded to the ministry of Education and the elementary school of Hôtel-Dieu was transferred there the following year.

In 1946, the sick afflicted with tuberculosis were admitted into a new building which Sister Lucie Morneault, superior of the RHSJ’s of the Hôtel-Dieu had had constructed on neighbouring land. Some Sisters formed a community there in a section of the building on the top floor. Then in 1968, they moved into Résidence Jeanne Mance on the other side of the main street. More than 2,7000 persons were cared for in the sanatorium until 1972, the year it closed. The ministry of Health committed itself to doing the necessary renovations to convert the building in to a nursing home. However, in order to meet the work deadline, the Congregation eventually had to invest considerable funds.

In March of 1976, the elderly and sick residents were transferred from the Hôtel-Dieu to the renovated sanatorium, now renamed “Foyer Saint-Joseph”. The ministry of Health financially supports the Foyer into which 120 persons needing long term care have been admitted. The Hospitallers of St. Joseph, owners of the building, administer the Foyer with the help of a lay board made up of people from the region. Many sisters from the residences Jeanne-Mance, Maillet and the community of Hôtel-Dieu worked at the Foyer until 2002.

In 1888, the Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph accepted to embrace a fourthfoundation in New Brunswick, this time in Campbellton, which lies at the head of the Baie des Chaleurs. As with all their sister co-workers in the missions of Tracadie, Chatham and Saint-Basile, the five foundresses of the l’Hôtel-Dieu of Campbellton discovered a double challenge: above caring for the sick, they also engaged in education « for a long time, before a teaching community would be called upon to replace them».

A school and a hospital (1890 - 1910)

Upon their arrival in Campbellton on September 21, 1888, the sisters settled into a simple house and hastened to transform a shed into a provisional school. As early as October 28, 40 girls and boys were welcomed by two teaching Hospitallers. But, having come to care for the sick, the sisters took out a loan of $20,000.00 to put up a good building. On November 24, 1890, the Sisters, and the 90 pupils moved into the building, which also included five hospital rooms.

A fire which raged through the town of Campbellton in 1910 also swept away the new Hôtel-Dieu.
The sisters moved into an old wooden house and cared for the sick and wounded in tents which awaiting the construction of a temporary hospital. The children’s education continued in a make shift way until a move, in 1916, to a mixed school for about 200 students. In 1918, during the Spanish flu, the school was transformed into a hospital for the sick, and then suffered a second fire. Only the original house remained standing. A hotel located across from the station was loaned to the RHSJ’s; for two years hospital services were assured in this temporary setting. The sisters lived in a house close by. In spite of the precariousness of the surroundings, a nursing school was begun. These trials obligated the RHSJ’s to give up teaching. They knew that the new community of the Filles de l’Assomption would take on this work.

On July 18, 1920 a now solidly built hospital opened its doors to welcome 50 patients. Throughout the years, many changes and enlargements made it into a renowned hospital centre. In 1934, the nursing school of Campbellton was affiliated with Laval University. 830 graduated nurses would emerge from this hospital during the course of its existence. Auxiliary courses would also be made available for 200 young women.

The three sisters presently in Campbellton (June 2003) visit the sick and elderly and help to look after various needs in their area.

1. Sanatorium (1931- 1974) Foyer Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes (1974-2000)

As in many regions in Canada in the years 1920-1950, tuberculosis was rife in North East New Brunswick. Bishop Patrice Chiasson dreamt of building a sanatorium to help curb its scourge and prayed to Mary to give him the means to do so. In 1930, Sir James Dunn, a rich industrialist originally from Bathurst, who was not a Catholic and had no children, offered a thousand acres of land to the Bishop with the condition that a charitable work be founded there and bear the name Lady Dunn. But, Bishop Chiasson had promised the Virgin Mary to name his dreamt about sanatorium Our Lady of Lourdes.
He consulted with Sister Isabelle Sormany (Mère La Dauversière) then in Tracadie and the two found a solution: the house would officially be designated as “Our Lady of Lourdes Sanatorium of the Lady Dunn Institution”.

In order to supervise construction, Sister La Dauversière and three of her companions took possession of Sir James Dunn’s summer house on May 4, 1931, which he had offered for their use. This was located in a valley in Western part of the Bathurst parish. They turned it into a provisional hospital for 59 patients.

On August 5, 1932, the sanatorium with a capacity of 90 beds, opened its doors. During the 1960's, the number of sick afflicted with tuberculosis gradually diminished, and an isolation unit was organized in the new Chaleur Hospital to receive these patients. In 1974, the sanatorium became Foyer Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes for the elderly; it served in this capacity until a new Foyer, constructed by the provincial government, opened in May of 2000. The former Foyer was demolished in July of the following year.

2. Hôtel-Dieu Saint-Joseph (1942-1972)

In the 1930's, the two modest hospitals in Bathurst did not adequately meet the needs of the region. Moreover, they would be in flames in 1940 and 1953, respectively. The cathedral curate dreamt of having a Catholic hospital in the area directed by the RHSJ’s. He purchased property, and, in March of 1940, Sister La Dauversière (Isabelle Sormany), superior of the Sanatorium Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, accepted to take on the responsibility for construction.

In September, 1942, the new 60 bed hospital was placed in charge of a community of RHSJ’s formed made up of a group coming from the Sanatorium Notre-Dame de Lourdes, the Hôtel-Dieu of Tracadie, and Sister Desharnais, of the Arthabaska community. In 1953, 30 more beds were added to the hospital. From 1943, the Hôtel-Dieu had its nursing school from which 567 diplomas were conferred.

On January 22, 1972, Hôtel-Dieu closed its doors and the patients were transferred to the new Chaleur General Hospital, constructed by the government. The Hôtel-Dieu was sold in March, 1973. Some sisters went to work at the Chaleur Hospital, be it in the laboratory, accounting, and in hospital pastoral care.

3. Foyer Saint-Camille-de -Lellis (1943-1974)

After having set up in Vallée-Lourdes, the RHSJ’s considered setting up a retirement home for the private resident elderly of the foyer. They acquired the Rogers’ property, contiguous to the sanatorium property, and at their request, their colleague sisters from Campbellton took over the administration of the project on August 25, 1943. It was called the Foyer Saint-Camille-de-Lellis, in honour of the new Bishop, Camille-André Leblanc.

In 1946, the RHSJ’s placed this house at the disposition of the Capuchins who had arrived in Bathurst, and placed the elderly residents in a wing of the Dunn house. A short time later, this residence became the Mother house and novitiate of the Acadian Generalate, and in December 1948, the elderly were then moved to new quarters in the Pavillon La Dauversière where they remained until the building was set aside, in 1950, for tuberculosis patients. The elderly were then sent to the Hospitallers in Chatham, Saint-Basile and Saint-Quentin; a last group of twelve, accompanied by two sisters, a home in the Belledune presbytery.

Touched by the needs of these people, Bishop Camille-André Leblanc constructed in 1952, a large home in wood, with a capacity of 63 beds, on Saint-Pierre Avenue in Bathurst. In 1974, for security reasons, the department of health condemned the house. In October, the elderly were moved to the renovated former sanatorium, the Foyer Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.

4. Pavillon la Dauversière (1948-1972)

This building begun after the second world war, at a time when steel was still quite rare, remained unfinished, but then knew several successive uses. The Acadian generalate would be established there, but the option was made for the Dunn House, and the elderly residents who lived there were transferred to the new Pavillon.

In October, 1951, the building was annexed to the Sanatorium which lacked space for 95 patients. Ten years later, the four last patients left and the Pavillon was occupied by pediatric services, maternity and nursery of the Hôtel-Dieu. On February 2, 1972, the building became the property of the government, and had it demolished.

5. Maison Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption (1946 - )

In 1946, the francophone communities of the RHSJ’s in New Brunswick united in a generalate and the administration was established in the Dunn House in Vallée-Lourdes, Bathurst where the elected General Council lived. The Dunn House thus became the Mother house and the novitiate of the New Brunswick communities, and those which would be founded by the RHSJ’s in Van Buren (Maine), Sorel (Québec), Yarmouth (NS) and in Peru. A fire on December 24, 1952 destroyed the “Dunn” House and a new building was constructed. At the time of the North American Generalate in 1953, the “ Mother house” of Vallée-Lourdes became the provincial house Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption.

With the suppression of the provincial level in the Congregation in 1999, the NDA House is now a residence for more than thirty sisters. It also serves as a house of welcome for visiting RHSJ’s who go there for retreats. meetings, rest. People of the Vallée go there as well for Eucharistic celebrations, prayer evenings, various activities and meetings.

House of welcome 2080, Vallée-Lourdes, Bathurst (1978- 1993) )

Sister Simonne Gagné, is the hostess of this family style hospitality house, and welcomes women, children and young girls who need solace and help to undertake another step in life. The opening of a welcoming house in Bathurst itself and Sister Simonne’s illness contributed to the closure of this little house in 1993.

Hôtel-Dieu Saint-Joseph (1946-1972)

After having cared for more than 36, 000 patients throughout three-quarters of a century, the RHSJ’s under the direction of Sister Lucie Morneault recognized that their old hospital didn’t adequately fulfill the needs of the area. In April 1945, they undertook the construction of a 200 bed hospital in Edmundston, on land offered my the city. On November 10, 1946, the first patients were admitted into a completely new building.

Sister Anne-Marie Dionne and 18 other sisters from Saint-Basile formed the first community and assured a smooth running of the hospital, along with 80 lay employees of whom were 20 student nurses - some of these students had begun their formation in Saint-Basile. The ten doctors attached to the old Hôtel-Dieu formed the medical staff. As in every other place, the RHSJ’s offered their services free of charge.

With the introduction of universal hospital insurance in 1959, the Ministry of Health took over the financial responsibility of hospital services. On December 31, 1972, the RHSJ’s transferred the property and administration of the hospital to the provincial government. Some of the sisters continued working there. In 1973, a modern regional hospital was constructed in another part of the city, and the Hôtel-Dieu building was demolished.

Hôtel-Dieu Saint-Joseph

In 1946, the parishioners of Saint-Quentin, located mid-way between Saint-Basile and Campbellton, decided to endow a hospital. They bought some land with a house and out-buildings, and confided the supervision of this small hospital of eleven beds to a registered nurse, Miss Zita Rioux. The first patients were admitted on April 7, 1947. But, to assure the stability of this enterprise, the assistance of a religious community was deemed indispensable. On April 14, Sisters Séguin (Rosaria Leblanc) and Célestine Allard from Campbellton and Sainte-Élisabeth (E. Thériault) from Saint-Basile arrived in Saint-Quentin. An enlargement of the original house allowed for the admission of 30 patients.

Finally, in 1963, a 40 bed hospital was constructed under the direction of Sister Adrienne Desjardins. Since 1981, the administrator has been a lay person. The two RHSJ’s who are still in Saint-Quentin work in pastoral services to the sick at the Hôtel-Dieu and at the Foyer for the elderly. They also help with sacristy duties in the parish church.

Hôtel-Dieu Saint-Joseph

Following several interventions on the part of Father Grégoire Léger, o.f.m.,at that time superior of the Franciscan Fathers of the region, the RHSJ’s accepted to open a hospital in Perth, about 90 km south of Saint-Basile, along the Saint John River. On September 10, 1947, Sisters Corinne Kerr, Léona Haché (Sainte-Jeanne-d’Arc) and Yvonne Hubert arrived in this small locality. The residents, the majority of whom were Baptists, were somewhat reserved in their welcome, but this attitude gradually changed to a more positive one.

To receive the patients, the sisters had a small building, a former restaurant which was placed at their disposition by Mr. Charles Armstrong who, though not a Catholic, was very open to their coming. The first patient was admitted on October 28, 1947. At the beginning of the following year, in order to make place for an increase in the number of beds for the sick, a residence was built for the sisters and the employees. Then, following many negotiations and difficulties, work began for the building of a new hospital with a capacity of 45 beds. This was begun under the direction of Sister Brigitte Légère, administrator since 1952. After the transfer of the patients into the new quarters in 1954, the sisters moved to the top floor of what had been the temporary hospital. Various changes were carried out until 1979, and the original building was demolished in 1980. Two RHSJ’s are still in Perth-Andover as of 2003; one works with the sick in the hospital and both are involved in parish and social work activities, especially with those living alone and the destitute.

Hôtel-Dieu Saint-Joseph

The foundation of a small hospital on the l’ île de Lamèque which at this time wasn’t connected to the main land, was part of an RHSJ initiative of expansion to pursue works in areas removed from larger centres.
The Hôtel-Dieu of Lamèque credits its existence in part to the parish priest, Father Louis Morin, who offered the use of his presbytery to serve as a hospital, but also to the first superior general of the Acadian generalate, Mother LaDauversière (Isabelle Sormany), originally from Lamèque. The three foundresses, Sisters Sainte-Thérèse-de-Lisieux (Alfreda Haché), Madeleine Roy and Marie-de-Jésus (Bernadette Haché), arrived on February 2, 1949, at the same time as the first doctor, Euchère Cormier. Organizing a hospital in the middle of winter, on an isolated island, was not an easy task. Transportation of the very sick over an uncertain ice surface was risky, to say the least!

In August 1963, a real hospital of 41 beds was constructed and opened its doors under the direction of Sister Albertine Allain. The RHSJ’s were the administrators there until it became the property of the government in 1972.

Hôpital L’Enfant-Jésus (1963 - )

The insistent requests of a committee of business men in Caraquet ended in 1961, when they convinced the RHSJ’s to take charge of constructing and administrating a hospital of 55 beds in their locality. Already involved in the construction of the new hospital in Lamèque, the sisters laid down some conditions: legal guarantees on the part of the municipality and a promise from the provincial government of a contribution of $ 307, 000.00.

On May 19, 1963, the town of Caraquet warmly welcomed the seven foundresses: Sisters Bernadette Lévesque, Sylvia Poirier, Anita Robichaud, Célestine Allard, Évangéline Savoie, Patricia Ouellet and Elmyre Doucet. Officially opened on August 15, 1963, the hospital in Caraquet is still the pride and joy of the citizens of the region. The RHSJ’s no longer administer the hospital, but one sister continues to serve in pastoral services to the sick.

www.norest-east.org

General hospital

In the 1950's, the need of a modern hospital was gradually being felt in the Grand-Sault region, some 60 km south of Saint-Basile. A General Hospital Company had been formed and entered into negotiations with the RHSJ’s. These latter accepted to work there on condition that they neither be responsible for the construction of nor owners of the new hospital. The General Hospital Company placed a residence at the disposition of the foundresses who arrived January 2, 1964. They were : Sisters Berthe Arseneau (Sainte-Thérèse-de-l’Enfant-Jésus), Aurore Gallant, Gemma Mazerolle, Béatrice Pelletier and Lucie Grant.

On June 7 of the same year. the hospital received its first patients. In 1980, following the departure of the last RHSJ administrator, Sister Adrienne Desjardins for other duties in the Congregation, the administration of the institution was confided to Madame Marcelle Fafard. Two sisters continued their services to the hospital until the spring of 1985. On July 12 of the following year, the sisters’ residence was closed. However, the RHSJ’s continued to be represented in the area by one of the sisters, who as a school psycologist devoted herself to the needs of youth until June, 1992.

In the 1970's, the RHSJ’s felt called to assure a presence in areas where there were no religious communities and where they could help people in various ways. On August 24, 1974, Sisters Georgina Maillet, Noëlla Ferguson, Ernestine Laplante and Rachel Thériault arrived in Brantville, located not far from Tracadie-Sheila. Very soon, they began to participate in many service duties: catechesis, home visitation, liturgical animation, pre-natal classes, individual tutoring, scouts, organizing a workshop and a nursery school.

In March of 1979, a social justice committee was begun with specific objectives: informing people about existing government programs; encouragement of individual and community development. The Congregation hired a social worker, Mr. Claude Snow, who became the executive secretary of the committee composed of persons from the locality. During this period, about sixty families received assistance to build affordable housing or to make improvements in homes they already had.

The sisters who lived at various times in the Brantville community always wanted to assure a simple and warm welcome to the people of the area and to help them in various ways. For several years, there have been no more than two sisters present to render service where they can.

Father Jean-Marc Guérette, parish priest of two parishes lives in Bas-Caraquet. He invited the RHSJ’s to live in the presbytery in Saint-Simon with the goal of being a kindly presence in the area. In September, 1993, three sisters arrived in this section of the Acadian peninsula. They were: Sisters Gaétane Soucy, director of Pastoral Care in the Hôpital de l’Enfant-Jésus of Caraquet; Sisters Joséphine Robichaud and Thérèse Vienneau were house-keeper-cooks in two presbyteries in the region. They also visited the sick in their homes, assisted with parish secretarial work and organized the movement Brebis de Jésus.

Since September 2001, two sisters, Gaétane Soucy and Joséphine Robichaud are the only RHSJ’s in Saint-Simon.

In the month of August, 1999, Sisters Rachel Thériault, Yvonne Leclerc and Rolande Dugas accepted to live in the presbytery of this rural parish where there was no longer a resident priest. They had as their mandate to prepare the people to take on the administration and activities of the parish, among which were catechesis, preparation for the sacraments, visits to the sick in their homes and at the small Home for the elderly.

In 2002, the sisters judging their mandate completed, withdrew from Sainte-Rose.

Foyer Saint-Joseph (1958- 1960) —> Villa Saint-Joseph-du-Lac (1960 - )

At the request of Bishop Laménager, Bishop of the Diocese of Yarmouth in Nova Scotia, the RHSJ’s accepted to found a home for the elderly in on old hotel that had been purchased by the diocese. The foundresses, Sisters Mélanie Lavoie, Yvonne Hubert and Claudia Toussaint called Sirois, arrived on October 9, 1958. One month later, they welcomed 17 residents into this house, called Foyer Saint-Joseph; ten other residents were admitted before the end of 1959.

On April 1, 1960, the Congregation bought a luxury hotel that had been put up for sale by the Canadian Pacific Company at a very good price, with the condition that the property be used exclusively as a hospital, a home for the aged, a religious education institution, or other similar work. In 1964, faced with the increased requests for admission at the Villa Saint-Joseph, a floor was added to the north wing for the sisters.

A Board of Directors was established in 1965 and since ......, the position of administrator has been entrusted to a lay person.