14
Rebuilding of Hôtel-Dieu Saint Joseph
Couragious, the Religious Hospitallers of Saint Joseph began the construction of a new building.
The project to reconstruct the hospital (burned on January 6th, 1943) begins as early as May, 1943. Sister Alice Allain, called St. Georges, was responsible for the project.
15
Hôtel-Dieu Saint Joseph
1945
Tracadie, New Brunswick, Canada
16
We are in 1945, the construction of the hospital Hôtel-Dieu is progressing.
17
Hôtel-Dieu Saint Joseph
1946
Tracadie, New Brunswick, Canada
18
The blessing of the cornerstone of the new Hôtel-Dieu by Mgr I.
Antoniutti, Apostolic Deleguate in Canada, took place on July 24th, 1946.
The hospital had 80 beds and the sick enjoyed various services: laboratory, radiology, pharmacy and surgery. The nuns occupied a part of the left wing.
The services to the lepers were situated in the back, in the wing facing the garden.
19
Text of a letter written by sister St. Jean de Goto, superior and deposited in a cornerstone on July 22th, 1896. That document was found after the fire which destroyed the building in 1943.
That letter was again deposited with a new letter written by sister Turcotte, superior, in the cornerstone of the Hôtel- Dieu blessed the same day on July 22th, 1946.
Those documents were found July 16th, 1996 in the ruins of the Hôtel Dieu which had been demolished in 1991.
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Excerpt from a letter by Sister Saint Jean de Goto, written from Hôtel-Dieu Saint Joseph of Arthabaska, Quebec, on February 22th, 1904.
It was addressed to Dr. A. C. Smith, Tracadie, New Brunswick.
My dear Doctor,
Your good letter of last January 1st did not leave me unaffected. I keep too good a souvenir to forget you and I would say like the chorus: "Once known never forgotten". I thank you very much for the favorable interest you are taking in your former patient...I thank Mrs.
Smith for the good memories...
Wishing you success and happiness , I beg of you to believe me, my dear doctor,
Yours very respectfully,
Sister Saint Jean de Goto, superior
20
Lazaretto (wing of the Hôtel-Dieu)
1946
Tracadie, New Brunswick, Canada
21
Lazaretto 1946. Lepers section of the new Hôtel-Dieu of 1946.
The hospital took up the greater part of the building as the number of admissions to the lazaretto decreases. There were but 8 residents.
This section became secondary. The wing was situated in the back of the building and connected to the hospital by a corridor.
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Hôtel-Dieu Saint Joseph
1956
Tracadie, New Brunswick, Canada
23
The hospital's first inception didn't take long to be insufficient. Due to the need of space and modernization, spaces were made available in 1956 when the nursing school was transferred to a new building: the Residence Jeanne Mance. Thus the hospital's capacity was increased to 100 beds. Upon the lazaretto's closure, its spaces were renovated for additional services: central sterilization, nursing offices, pharmacy and housekeeping.
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Bell of the lazaretto
1870
Tracadie, New Brunswick, Canada
25
The community buys a bell for the exterior of the lazaretto costing $54.00.
Mgr. J. Rogers blessed that bell on October 30th, 1970, when he visited Tracadie.
That same bell would be installed in the two following buildings: the stone lazaretto built in 1896 and the Hôtel- Dieu Saint Joseph built in 1946.
After the demolition of the Hôtel- Dieu's steeple around 1969, the bell was given to the museum.