Duke & St Joseph's Home Care Llc history

Honoria Conway, a native of Galway, Ireland was born on June 18, 1815.

In 1837, her family immigrated to Saint John, and eventually settled near Metegan, Nova Scotia.

St Paul’s began when Mother Emilie Gamelin a widow, distinguished by her ardent charity towards the poor and unfortunate of all classes, founded the Sisters of Providence, a Catholic women’s religious order dedicated to heeding Christ’s call to compassionate services, in Montreal in 1843.

Such were the conditions when Thomas Louis Connolly became Bishop of Saint John in 1852.

Délia Tetreault was born on February 4, 1865 in Marieville, a small country town near Montreal.

In the 1890’s the Sisters of Providence opened St Paul’s Hospital, a 25-bed “cottage” on the path to English Bay.The Sisters had arrived several years before, having been told the stories of suffering in this burgeoning coastal city.

Responding to the Bishop Paul Durieu, OMI, of New Westminster, who urged the Sisters to consider the needs of a growing Vancouver, two representatives of the Sisters of Providence came north from Portland Oregon in 1892.

That year, 1894, the great flood struck the Fraser Valley and gold was discovered on Lulu Island, foreshadowing the gold rush to come.

1896 - The first hospital in Portage Health's history, originally known as St Mary's Hospital, was set up in Bishop John Vertin's family home.

1904 - As the public and physicians regained confidence in St Joseph's, the hospital outgrew its space.

In addition to laboratory testing, the hospital became one of the first to have its very own X-ray machine, circa 1906.

September 1, 1907 saw the official opening of a School of Nursing at St Paul’s Hospital.

In 1909, the young congregation sent out its first missionaries, a group of six Sisters who journeyed to Canton, China, via Vancouver.

In 1919, the Sisters of Providence responded to the challenge of the American College of Surgeons and the Catholic Hospitals Association to standardize hospital services with those of the larger centres throughout the US and Canada.

1920 - St Joseph's School of Nursing, another important part of Portage Health's history, began.

In May 1924, the Sisters purchased another house at 236 Campbell Avenue and opened a dispensary.

1931 - St Joseph's Hospital was expanded when a chapel and nurses residences were completed.

In 1942 a new wing and chapel were added to the shelter, providing accommodation for an additional 51 men.

Holy Family Hospital was founded in 1947 by the Sisters of Providence of St Vincent de Paul, who came to Vancouver from Kingston, Ontario at the invitation of Archbishop William Duke of the Vancouver diocese.

1948: MSJ was recognized as a general hospital.

An early attempt to expand the nursing home failed in 1950 due to lack of funds.

1952 - The old building was remodeled to accommodate the School of Nursing and renamed Ryan Hall.

1956: a 50-bed wing was added, thanks in part to the work of the newly created Ladies’ Auxiliary.

1969: a new three-bed Intensive Care Unit was created.

1972 - The hospital's management began to change when the Sisters of St Joseph of Carondelet began to incorporate lay people onto the hospital board.

These one hundred bed opened in 1974.

1976 - Just four years later, the Sisters of St Joseph of Carondelet transferred ownership of the hospital to the community and, once again, its name changed, to Portage View Hospital.

1979: the Short Stay Assessment and Treatment Centre opened, establishing the first specialized geriatric service of its kind in BC.

1982 - Several areas of the building were remodeled at a cost of $3 million.

1984: Mount Saint Joseph Foundation was established.

Marguerite Youville was canonized by the Church on December 9, 1990.

1991: an addition to the fourth floor paved the way for the new pediatric unit; two years later the hospital joined forces with BC’s Children’s Hospital to share expertise and to jointly operate MSJ’s expanded pediatric wing.

In 1994 the program was enhanced with the addition of the “Easy Street Environments,” the first installation of the program in British Columbia, and only the fifth in Canada.

Providence Health Care was formed through the consolidation of CHARA Health Care Society, Holy Family Hospital and St Paul's Hospital on April 1st, 1997.

2000 - The new Portage Health medical campus opened its doors to patients on March 4.

2002 - Portage Health furthered its commitment to meeting the healthcare needs of the Western Upper Peninsula with its building addition and renovation project.

The project, completed in January 2004, added more than 28,000 square feet of new space.

2006 - A new era in elder care commenced in the Copper Country with the expansion of PortagePointe, Portage’s senior living community.

2013 - The Portage Health Board of Directors and LifePoint Hospitals® (NASDAQ: LPNT) finalized their joint venture agreement to share ownership and operation of Portage Health.