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  The Sanatorium Age

 First Sanatoria

Sir William Gage and the National Sanatorium Association opened up the first Canadian sanatorium at Muskoka Lake, Ontario in 1897. This "national" association opened two more sanatoriums in Ontario during the decade that followed. Although it really did not accomplish anything concrete in other provinces, the Association set a precedent that other provinces were quick to follow. The next province to enter the Sanatorium Age was Nova Scotia, where the 8 bed Highland View Sanatorium was open from 1899 to 1903, and replaced in 1904 by the 18 bed Kentville Sanatorium.



 Sanatoria
- Introduction
- First
- Types
- Life
- End

(Click on underlined names of sanatoria to see pictures)

Sir William Gage and the National Sanatorium Association opened the Toronto Free Hospital for Consumptive Poor 1904. Five former horse-drawn street-cars were donated by the City of Toronto and used as patient pavilions.

Other early sanatoria included: King Edward San in Tranquille, BC (opened in 1907); Laurentian San in St. Agathe, Quebec (1908); Ninette San in Manitoba (1910); Jordan Memorial San at River Glade, New Brunswick (1913); the short-lived Dalton San in Charlottetown (1915); Fort Qu’Appelle San in Saskatchewan (1917); and St. Johns San in Newfoundland (1917); and Bowness San in Calgary (1920).

"With regard to the location of sanatoriums, the philosophy gradually developed that by establishing these institutions nearer to the centers of population, they would be more convenient for the patients and their families, and it would be easier to obtain staff and consultation services from nearby general hospitals. The importance of obtaining necessary supplies easily was another incentive."

– Wherrett in The Miracle of the Empty Beds, 1977.
The Ninette Sanatorium of Manitoba was opened in 1910 and closed by 1970 .

Thus, many sanatoriums began to be built in urban centres, closer to the people, and to resources on which the sanatoriums’ relied. Urban sanatoria included: the Royal Ottawa San (1909), the St. Catherines San, The Essex County San (Windsor), the Cornwall San, the Sudbury San, the Fort William San (1935), all in Ontario; as well as the St. Boniface San in St. Vital, Manitoba (1931), the Pearson TB Hospital in Vancouver (1952), and the Prince Albert San in Saskatchewan (1930). TB Sanatoria built adjacent to modern hospital facilities included: the Lake Edward San, near Quebec City (1922); the Royal Edward Institute in Montreal (1909), which merged with the Laurentian San in 1942 to become the Royal Edward Laurentian Hospital; the Saint John TB Hospital in New Brunswick (1915); the Grace Dart Home Hospital in Montreal (1922); the Sherbrook and Rosemount Sans in Montreal (193?); and the Aberhart San in Edmonton (1953).

Other Canadian sanatoria included:

  • Mountain Sanatorium in Hamilton, Ontario (1910)
  • Queen Alexandra Sanatorium in London, Ontario (1910)
  • Three Rivers Sanatorium in Quebec (1928)
  • King Edward Hospital in Ontario (1907)
  • King Edward Hospital in Winnipeg (1912)
  • Saint George Sanatorium in Mont-Joli, Quebec (1939)
  • Saint Joseph Sanatorium in St. Basile, New Brunswick (1940s)
  • Notre-Dame de Lourdes Sanatorium in Bathurst, New Brunswick (1932)
  • Queen Mary Sanatorium in London, Ontario
  • Queen Mary Hospital for Children in Weston, Ontario (1913)
  • Saskatoon Sanatorium in Saskatchewan (1925)
  • Balfour Military Sanatorium in West Kootenay, BC (1917)
  • Earl Grey Military Sanatorium in Regina
  • Riverside Cottage Private Sanatorium in Kamloops, BC (1910)
  • Halifax TB Hospital (1921)
  • West Coast Sanatorium in Corner Brook, Newfoundland (1951)
  • Calydor Santorium in Gravenhurst, Ontario (1916)
  • Charles Camsell Sanatorium in Edmonton, Alberta

The Queen Mary Hospital for Tuberculous Children at Weston, Ontario .

Sanatoria, hospitals, or clinics dedicated to the treatment of tuberculosis were also located in the following Canadian locations: St. Hyacinthe, Dorchester, Roberval, Noranda, and Gaspe, all in Quebec; Moncton, New Brunswick; Shelburne and Point Gray, Nova Scotia; Clearwater and Brandon, Manitoba; North Battelford, Saskatchewan; and Prince Rupert, Nanaimo, Victoria, Sardis, Frobisher Bay, and Moose Factory, all in British Columbia.