Site History

Ste. Anne's Hospital 1917-1992

Ste. Anne's Hospital is the last of the hospitals administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and one of nine new hospitals constructed in Canada to care for the casualties of the First World War. It was built by the Borden Government in 1917, under the Military Hospitals Commission in recognition of the men and women who came back from the wars that have tainted this century.

Ste. Anne's, like its counterparts elsewhere in the country, was built as a solution to a problem that had never before been encountered in the history of war. In this first major conflict since Europe had become industrialized, new weapons had been created to destroy the enemy.

For protection, a network of trenches was quickly dug up in the French countryside. Life in the trenches was terrible; soldiers had to choose between the risk of falling ill in the cold and damp trenches or being struck down by the enemy if they ventured out.

On the other hand, medical science had succeeded in controlling diseases that had once destroyed armies, typhoid fever in particular. Wounded soldiers were in less danger of death than ever before, but convalescence was lengthy, longer than it would be once antibiotics came onto the scene in the 1930s, just in time for the Second World War. The convalescent hospital for war wounded was therefore designed to provide soldiers with a new kind of care.

The Great War was not the longest war in history, but no one in industrialized and civilized Europe believed that it would last as long as it did.

In the glorious late Summer days of 1914, soldiers throughout Europe, Great Britain and the British colonies and dominions set off singing for the train stations leading them to the battle field. Flags fluttered, trumpets sounded, and everyone expected to be home again by Christmas. But the only ones who were back by then were the sick and injured - and only those for whom there was room back home because of the limited number of beds available in the country's hospitals.

In the Summer of 1915, Great Britain asked the Commonwealth countries that had contributed troops to repatriate their wounded for treatment at their own country's expense. England lacked both the funds and the space to deal with them. In Canada, although private residences and country homes had already been donated in support of the war effort, there was a need to organize properly to meet the demand for convalescent care. Prime Minister Borden delegated this responsibility to various Canadian businessmen. Thus, the Military Hospitals Commission was created by ministerial order-in-council dated June 30. Lougheed, a Western Canadian businessman, headed the Commission and Scammell was its secretary. The inaugural meeting was held on July 20, 1915.

The Commission's first responsibility was to administer the houses donated by wealthy Canadians and to adapt them to their new role. In all cases, it was necessary to upgrade the plumbing, kitchens and heating systems. But what they nearly all had in common were the magnificent grounds surrounding them making them ideal for convalescence.

By October 7, 1915, the Commission had jurisdiction over eleven hospitals or residences capable of housing six hundred persons on an in-patient or out-patient basis. In 1916, it was found that the costs were out of proportion to the number of patients cared for, and only the largest buildings were converted to convalescent hospitals. These included Deer Lodge in Winnipeg, Bishop Strachan School and Knox College in Halifax and Québec City, and Loyola College and the Grey Nuns Convent in Montreal.

Loyola and the other colleges made available to the Commission were particularly well suited to their new use. Meeting rooms, dormitories, class-rooms, dining halls and grounds were most appropriate. Large wards could be created by simply removing walls. However, the cost of renovating the Drummond Pavilion totalled $75,000, as much as, if not more than, the cost of building a new hospital, according to the standards the Commission was to adopt in 1917.

Ever increasing needs

In 1917, the Military Hospitals Commission also had to cope with a crisis which would shape its policy for years to come. After the shock of the Battle of the Somme on July 1, 1916, the number of casualties exceeded England's and Canada's capacity to care for the wounded. The Commission realized that, apart from the newly acquired Strathcona Hospital near Edmonton, it had no hospital facilities in operation.

Winter was coming, and the ports of Halifax and Québec City were not ready to receive the wounded. Nor were the ten hospital rail cars ordered from Canadian Pacific and Intercolonial Railways ready. In that same year, the Commission began to plan so as not to be caught unprepared. During that Summer, the first military convalescent hospital to be built rapidly and economically was Camp Hill in Halifax.

Like the other military hospitals which would appear throughout the country, Camp Hill included residences for officers and staff, a professional training centre and a recreation hall. Sites were chosen for their attractiveness and accessibility by road or rail. During the Summer of 1917, the Commission undertook more construction projects than any other Canadian government department.

Thanks to the new facilities, the Commission was able to respond to the demand. Whereas only 5,600 beds were available in mid-1917, the end of year total was 13,802 of which 1,428 were for tubercular patients. The number of patients rose from 2,620 to 11,981. Philanthropy finally was replaced by professionalism.

Ste. Anne's Hospital

Ste. Anne's, a classic wood and stucco building, was constructed in late 1917. Its location was an enviable one. Built on land leased from Macdonald College of McGill University, it was convenient to the main highway connecting Montreal and Toronto as well as to the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific rail lines. Hospital cars, designed to facilitate ambulatory and stretcher cases from all over the country, could unload at the hospital doors where two sidings had been built. Specialists from Montreal had easy access to the hospital because of its proximity to the city which also made patient visiting easier. It was also a good location for the patients themselves who could enjoy the benefits of Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue's fresh air on the shores of Lake of Two Mountains and the Ottawa River.

The initial contract was for the construction of four buildings with an administrative wing and a surgical wing in the centre. Other buildings would be added later.

The hospital was arranged as follows: four parallel buildings were all inter-connected by a corridor. Each two-storey building was 250 feet long and 40 feet wide. The interiors were functional, well-equipped and quite spacious, although not particularly attractive. According to the contract record, the Operating Wing had the most up-to-date equipment for surgery and massage therapy, and had facilities for hydrotherapy and electrotherapy.

Patients had ready access to outdoors from the two-storey buildings. Each wing had large windows and spacious verandas. Patients seated near the corridors could see staff and other patients moving about, and the wards were easily accessible from one another. Within a few years, gardens would be planted between the hospital wings.

The frame construction of the buildings was covered with two layers of waterproof building paper, strapping, and metal laths to support two coats of stucco. Inner walls were sheathed in asbestos panels and the floors were maple. There was an electrical generator on the hospital grounds. Water was supplied by the municipality. Inexpensive and rapidly constructed buildings such as these were in use until their demolition for replacement by the new thirteen-floor building in 1970.

Starting as a temporary building, Ste. Anne's was readily converted to a permanent structure. Although there was no basement, the foundations had been dug below the frost line.

The wartime atmosphere at Ste. Anne's was friendly but disciplined. In 1926, the Military Hospitals Commission began to impose military discipline on the institutions under its jurisdiction. This was to improve attendance at trades training programs and to reduce the risk of misconduct by some of the returned soldiers.

Military districts were transformed into Hospital Commissions Command Units, thereby placing staff and patients alike under military authority. Military discipline was the order of the day until Ste. Anne's moved to its new premises in 1970. Today, a number of long-service employees still remember the home-like atmosphere that reigned in the old hospital. There was discipline, yes, but friendliness as well, and everybody knew everyone else.

Post-war Period

On November 11, 1918, the war that people thought was going to be the war to end all wars came to an end. This was good news for everyone, including the hospital. But patients would continue to be admitted for a number of years. In 1920, the hospital was placed under the newly-formed Department of Soldiers' Civil Re-Establishment. On April 1, 1920, a centre for neuropsychiatry was established and patients from the Cobourg Ontario Military Hospital were transferred there. That same year, a thirty-bed tuberculosis wing was built on the hospital grounds. In 1924, the hospital began to provide nursing care to patients in their own homes. While the rest of Canada was getting back to normal, Ste. Anne's Hospital continued to care for the men and women who had fought for their country.

Then as now, Ste. Anne's had two separate elements: general medicine and psychiatric care, and the hospital put a great deal of effort into caring for the mentally ill.

Second World War

At the beginning of the Second World War, Ste. Anne's (now under the Department of Pensions and National Health) got a new lease on life. Two new wings were designed in 1940. Buildings G and H were constructed, rapidly adding 320 beds to the hospital's capacity. By late 1941, the hospital had 672 beds.

A recreation hall was built in 1942 but, in 1943, part of the building was destroyed by a fire in the canteen. At that time, the hospital had no fire fighting equipment, no fire doors, no functional hydrants. Fire fighting equipment had to be brought in from Dorval and water pumped from a pond.

The fire was followed by a period of extensive construction and reconstruction. A larger canteen was built and the old service buildings were replaced by a concrete building. In 1944, a new administrative wing was added which is still in use today as the veterans' craft shop. In the same year, the lack of fire protection was remedied with the installation of a new water-main/ hydrant system.

The Red Cross Lodge for visitors, built beside the Administration Wing, was opened on March 22 that same year. Previously, friends and families of patients were accommodated in the village on Ste. Anne Street. At the time, quarters for occupational therapy staff and patient recreation were located in a building near the water.

By 1945, Ste. Anne's Hospital had almost attained its present capacity. On February 28 of that year, records indicate that 95% of its 1,022 beds were occupied.

On March 20, 1945, the Army opened St. Mary's Hospital near the Côte des Neiges area in Montreal to lighten the burden on Ste. Anne's. As a result, some three hundred beds were freed up to accommodate tubercular patients

The Second World War officially came to an end on September 2, 1945. About two weeks later on September 18, Ian Mackenzie, head of the new Department of Veterans Affairs, wrote to his counterpart, C.D. Howe, at the Department of Munitions and Supplies, asking for authorization to build health and occupational centres in a number of locations: Vancouver, Winnipeg, Saint John, and Senneville (a location very close to Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, on the shores of Lake of Two Mountains). Charles David was to be the architect of this new project to be built on the Senneville Golf and Country Club property. This club had gone bankrupt and the government had had its eye on the site, one of the finest in the Montreal area, for some years.

On March 16, 1946, Dr. John C. Mackenzie of Veterans Affairs submitted a report on the projected needs for a tuberculosis hospital at Senneville. This was to be a hospital for diseases of the chest because, as he pointed out, hospital for tuberculosis patients was an inappropriate name. Reflecting the ideas of the time, he asked that the hospital be designed to allow patients to benefit from fresh air, plenty of sunshine and pleasant surroundings. Senneville was the ideal location. He insisted that each building have a solarium, a roof-top terrace, and lots of windows. The hospital would be equipped to administer recreative therapy and heliotherapy. Construction was begun immediately and slated for completion within six months.

Senneville Lodge, as it is now called, could accommodate up to 275 ambulatory patients in its various buildings grouped around a central canteen and recreation halls. On June 1, 1950, the building was attached to Ste. Anne's Hospital. To this day, Ste. Anne's patients, staff and visitors can play nine holes of golf on what remains of the original eighteen-hole course. But in 1990, with the passage of time, the buildings had to be closed for the winter months. Its resident veterans were given a place of honour at Ste. Anne's Hospital.

The 1950s

In 1950, Veterans Affairs purchased from McGill University the land on which the hospital was built. At that time, there were some two dozen buildings on the grounds. A to G wings extended on either side of the central administration building and the surgical wing. Behind the latter, an imposing concrete building was accessible via the main corridor. H Block, an isolation area, the recreational centre and the occupational therapy building, all ran in a line Northwest of the main group of buildings. The physicians' residences were located close to the gates.

On the Southeast side along the railway track were the central heating plant, the laundry, the garages and stables, as well as the North side, as were a greenhouse, a garage and the carpentry and paint shops. The psychiatric wing lay further on. The hospital had a 1,100 bed capacity and 1,062 patients, according to the 1952 figures: 105 beds were for general medicine, 448 for psychiatric care, 7 for tubercular patients, and 502 for veterans. Soon veterans of the Korean War would start to arrive.

At the end of the Second World War, Veterans Affairs began to close some of its facilities and transfer patients elsewhere. In February, tubercular patients from the Saint-Hyacinthe Hospital were transferred to Ste. Anne's where the upper floors of three buildings were renovated to accommodate them. Thus, the Saint-Hyacinthe annex of the hospital was formed.

In the mid-fifties, the number of psychiatric patients was about the same as the number of medical patients. Of a total of 1,078 patients, 350 of them were in the psychiatric wing, while 200 others were in five wards in the main wing and another twenty in with the tubercular patients. From 1955 on, the hospital began to play a lead role in psychiatric care and research. During the fifties, the number of psychiatric in-patients began to diminish. Thanks to new medication, patients could be stabilized and then have access to out-patient care and integrated into the community.

At the end of the Second World War, the image of Veterans Affairs was poor to the point where top-notch specialists and administrators found the prospect of employment with the Department unattractive. To resolve this problem, the Department began to invest in medical research, allocating the necessary budgets to allow the hospital to become involved in major research. Ste. Anne's and Queen Mary Hospitals became centres focusing on the rehabilitation of paraplegics and quadraplegics. A young and talented physician, Dr. Gustave Gingras, who had worked with neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield during the war, was persuaded by Penfield to work at the two departmental hospitals on the retraining of paralytics. This work earned him world-wide recognition. Many other physicians also made generous contributions through their work at Ste. Anne's, particularly through research on alcoholism and geriatrics.

In Ste. Anne's Hospital's annual reports from the late fifties, it is noted that physicians there were concerned with the unfortunate consequences of war. There was a committee responsible for the regular screening of documentaries on such subjects as new medications, new treatments or rehabilitation techniques.

Ste. Anne's statistics as of January 1, 1958, indicate that there were 1,139 veterans in residence although the capacity of the hospital was 1,130. The number of older patients being admitted was increasing while fewer and fewer tubercular patients were being admitted. It was therefore necessary to reorganize the wards. At that time, cases of arteriosclerosis were the main condition reported. Alzheimer's Disease and other conditions affecting the elderly were unheard of then.

Also in 1958, Senneville Lodge reported the creation of a residents' committee to welcome newcomers. The occupational therapy department was organizing a number of activities. Among others, they organized a debate on the St. Lawrence Seaway project which included a fact-finding trip to Cornwall so that participants could gain a better understanding of the subject. A game in the form of a questionnaire was created afterward to let veterans check their knowledge. At that time, there were 241 residents.

By the end of the fifties, the numbers of psychiatric patients were decreasing while the numbers of physically ill patients were on the increase.