In downtown Montreal on June 1, 1898, the day of the Feast of the Sacred Heart, a group of women founded a small hospital named Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal to care for a dozen ill individuals deemed the "incurables".[3]
In 1902, the administration of the hospital was taken over by the Sisters of Providence, and a new building with 375 beds was built on Décarie Boulevard; it was known as Hôpital des Incurables. The building was destroyed[3] by fire in March 1923, and in 1926 a new building[4] 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.[3]
The new hospital was initially focused on the treatment of tuberculosis. Considered a sanatorium, it became an important teaching hospital for pulmonary illness.[4] In 1931, Édouard Samson founded the orthopedics department, which eventually became the largest institution for training orthopedic surgeons in the province of Quebec.[4]
In 1973, the Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal was affiliated with the Université de Montréal as its medical and health-sciences teaching hospital. The Albert-Prévost Institute merged with the hospital to form a centre for psychiatric patients.
