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Chateau Gai at Heritage Park9 November 2009
Heritage Park, Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada
Credits:Suzanne Braat
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Important Fort McMurray Medical FiguresMary Feniak was hired by the Grey Nuns of Montreal to move to Fort McMurray and work as a lay nurse in the hospital in 1941. A few weeks before her move to the northern community, she heard a Fort McMurray man named Lowry O'Coffey send greeting to his family over the radio, and she decided that he would be her boyfriend when she arrived. Eventually they wed, and left Fort McMurray in the early 1950s.
Dr. "Rick" McCallum was Fort McMurray's second physician and the first doctor to practice in l'Hôpital St. Gabriel. He practiced in the community from 1934 until 1938, serving Fort McMurray itself and the surrounding settlements.
Dr. Leigh Brown was the first to use antibiotics in Fort McMurray, using streptomycin in 1946 to cure a child dying of tubercular meningitis. Penicillin was invented in 1928, but antibiotics did not become popular until their efficacy was proven in the Second World War. In the following decades, a number of antibiotics were invented and their use spread into western and northern Canada. Thanks to this, many 'incurable' diseases were cured within a week or two.
Dr. Brown arrived in Fort McMurray in 1946 and treated patients out of the Franklin Hotel. He and his wife Nan purchased a home in Fort McMurray and he moved his practice into his house. Not only did he administer the first antibiotics, but he also performed Fort McMurray's first Caesarean section with anaesthetic. Dr. Brown also treated animals. Occasionally, children would bring him their dolls when they needed repair, reasoning that if he could heal sick people, he could heal sick dolls, too. In 1947 he was appointed Health Officer, and he and his family left Fort McMurray on 30 May 1950.
Residents of Fort McMurray could count on Dr. McDonald to give them two aspirin for whatever ailment they had, wherever they might run into him. He carried pocketfuls of aspirin with him and included animals in his unofficial prescriptions as well. On 22 April 1959, Dr. McDonald delivered Benny Hume's son Kenneth. According to Sister Gilbert, Kenneth was the first infant of Chinese descent born in the hospital.
Dr. Steven Yung was the area's first Chinese doctor, working in the hospital from 1964-1968. When he arrived, he was the only doctor in Fort McMurray. He was paid by the Great Canadian Oil Sands Company, by the Department of Indian Affairs, and by the town of Fort McMurray itself.
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Nurse Mary O'Coffey standing next to St. Gabriel's Hospital1941
St. Gabriel's Hospital and outbuildings, Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada
Credits:Tony O'Coffey
Fort McMurray Historical Society
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Dr. Malcolm "Rick" McCallum with wife (third from left) and friends at the Snye1934-1938
Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada
Credits:Sheila Collier (McDonald)
Fort McMurray Historical Society
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Nuns that Served in l'Hôpital Saint GabrielThese are the names of the Grey Nuns who served in the Fort McMurray community, arranged by arrival date. Names that appear more than once indicate a Sister who returned to Fort McMurray after leaving for a time. Thanks to the Soeurs de la Charité de Montréal, or the Grey Nuns of Montreal, for this information.
Sister Marie-Rose-Anna Henri, arrived in 1938 and departed in 1939, served as Cook.
Sister Aldéa Roberge, arrived in 1938 and departed in 1940, served as Nursing Aid.
Sister Marie Nadeau, arrived in 1938 and departed in 1941, served as Local Superior.
Sister Eva Bouchard, arrived in 1938 and departed in 1939, served as Nursing Aid.
Sister Juliette Monastesse, arrived in 1939 and departed in 1939, served as Cook.
Sister Marie-Louise Pelland, arrived in 1939 and departed in 1940, served as Cook.
Sister Thérèse Chaloux, arrived in 1939 and departed in 1940, served as Nurse.
Sister Thécla Andruchow, arrived in 1939 and departed in 1940, served as Sacristan and Laundry.
Sister Eva Bouchard, arrived in 1940 and departed in 1941, served as Cook.
Sister Gertrude Lemire, arrived in 1940 and departed in 1940, served as Cook.
Sister Joséphine Létourneau, arrived in 1941 and departed in 1944, served as Laundry, Cook, and Sewing.
Sister Marie-Louise Champoux, arrived in 1941 and departed in 1947, served as Accounting, Local Counselling, Secretary, Organist, and Mess Hall.
Sister Elizabeth Cardinal, arrived in 1941 and departed in 1942, served as Cook.
Sister Thécla Andruchow, arrived in 1941 and departed in 1946, served as Sacristan, Laundry.
Sister Ovilia Bédard, arrived in 1941 and departed in 1947, served as Local Superior.
Sister Laurence Côté, arrived in 1943 and departed in 1947, served as Cook, Mess Hall, and Laundry
Sister Germaine Rheault, arrived in 1943 and departed in 1947, served as Nurse.
Sister Marie Marcelline Vermette, arrived in 1945 and departed in 1956, served as Mess Hall and Provincial Counsellor.
Sister Herméline Galipeau, arrived in 1946 and departed in 1947, served as Laundry.
Sister Élizabeth Champagne, arrived in 1946 and departed in 1947, served as Sewing, Laundry, Sacristan.
Sister Claire Cardinal, arrived in 1946 and departed in 1952, served as Nurse.
Sister Simonne Lapointe, arrived in 1947 and departed in 1948, served as Accounting.
Sister Régina Trottier, arrived in 1947 and departed in 1949, served as Nurse and Laboratory.
Sister Marguerite-Hélène Brunet, arrived in 1947 and departed in 1959, served as Sacristan, Laundry, Cook, Night Shift, Sewing, and Cleaning Staff.
Sister Jeanne Leblanc, arrived in 1947 and departed in 1949, served as Nurse Aid, Organist.
Sister Armande Caron, arrived in 1947 and departed in 1953, served as Local Superior, Nurse Aid, Sacristan, and Chronic Care.
Sister Yvonne Chapleau, arrived in 1947 and departed in 1947, served as Nurse (night shift)
Sister Marie-Anne Deslauriers, arrived in 1948 and departed in 1959, served as Accounting and Local Counsellor.
Sister Adèle Dupuis, arrived in 1948 and departed in 1949, served as Cook.
Sister Anysie Caron, arrived in 1948 and departed in 1950, served as Sacristan and Sewing.
Sister Annie Cooper, arrived in 1948 and departed in 1949, served as Nurse Aid (night shift).
Sister Laure Perrault, arrived in 1948 and departed in 1948, served as Laundry.
Sister Laurence Côté, arrived in 1949 and departed in 1953, served as Cook.
Sister Thécla Andruchow, arrived in 1949 and departed in 1949, served as Nurse.
Sister Simonne Lapointe, arrived in 1950 and departed in 1952, served as Nurse Aid (night shift).
Sister Oliva (Olivine) Lavoie, arrived in 1951 and departed in 1952, served as Sewing.
Sister Gabrielle Létourneau, arrived in 1951 and departed in 1952, served as Night Watch.
Sister Joséphine Kergoat, arrived in 1952 and departed in 1954, served as Nurse.
Sister Clara Gilbert, arrived in 1952 and departed in 1966, served as Night Shift, Nurse, Social Service, Local Counsellor, and Accounting.
Sister Éva Baert, arrived in 1952 and departed in 1953, served as Nurse.
Sister Yvonne Guérette, arrived in 1953 and departed in 1955, served as Cook and Sewing.
Sister Éliane Hébert, arrived in 1953 and departed in 1954, served as Nurse.
Sister Réjeanne Lamarche, arrived in 1953 and departed in 1953, served as Nurse, X-Ray, and Laboratory.
Sister Joséphine Dussault, arrived in 1953 and departed in 1956, served as Local Superior.
Sister Thérèse Lethiecq, arrived in 1954 and departed in 1957, served as Nurse.
Sister Marie-Rose (Antoinette) Poulin, arrived in 1954 and departed in 1955, served as Nurse.
Sister Obéline Bisson, arrived in 1955 and departed in 1956, served as Cook.
Sister Anna Deshaies, arrived in 1955 and departed in 1959, served as Nurse Aid, Local Counsellor, Laboratory, and X-Ray
Sister Médérise Lapalme (Gaboriau), arrived in 1956 and departed in 1957, served as Cook.
Sister Marie-Rose-Anna Henri, arrived in 1956 and departed in 1958, served as Mess Hall and Cook.
Sister Joséphine Kergoat, arrived in 1957 and departed in 1960, served as Accountant.
Sister Lucille Lévesque, arrived in 1957 and departed in 1958, served as Cook.
Sister Fernande Maranda, arrived in 1958 and departed in 1959, served as Cook.
Sister Cécile Montpetit, arrived in 1958 and departed in 1959, served as Nurse, X-Ray, and Laboratory.
Sister Marguerite Bourgeois, arrived in 1958 and departed in 1959, served as Nurse, X-Ray, and Laboratory.
Sister Marguerite LaChambre, arrived in 1958 and departed in 1964, served as Local Superior and House Calls.
Sister Marie-Claire Hamelin, arrived in 1959 and departed in 1962, served as Cook.
Sister Geneviève Duclos, arrived in 1959 and departed in 1960, served as Cleaning Staff, Sacristan, and Mess Hall.
Sister Gertrude Lafrance, arrived in 1959 and departed in 1960, served as Nurse.
Sister Herméline Galipeau, arrived in 1959 and departed in 1962, served as Sacristan and Laundry.
Sister Rose-Alma Laroche, arrived in 1960 and departed in 1965, served as Sacristan, Cafeteria, Laundry, and Cleaning Staff.
Sister Marguerite Lussier, arrived in 1960 and departed in 1963, served as Social Service, Cleaning Staff, and Sacristan.
Sister Thérèse Lafrenière, arrived in 1961 and departed in 1968, served as Auxiliary Nurse.
Sister Jeanne Marchand, arrived in 1961 and departed in 1964, served as Nurse and Local Counsellor.
Sister Isabelle Hamelin, arrived in 1962 and departed in 1969, served as Nurse and Cook.
Sister Aldéa Roberge, arrived in 1963 and departed in 1966, served as Laundry, Mess Hall, and Music Teacher.
Sister Germaine Rheault, arrived in 1964 and departed in 1966, served as Director of Nursing Staff.
Sister Claire Cardinal, arrived in 1964 and departed in 1970, served as Local Superior and Nurse Director.
Sister Cécile Jeannotte, arrived in 1966 and departed in 1968, served as Nurse.
Sister Olga Vigoureux, arrived in 1966 and departed in 1967, served as Auxiliary Nurse and Local Counsellor.
Sister Thérèse Pelletier, arrived in 1967 and departed in 1968, served as Nurse.
Sister Gemma Côté, arrived in 1968 and departed in 1969, served as Nurse.
Sister Thérèse Lethiecq, arrived in 1969 and departed in 1970, served as Nurse.
Sister Marie-Anne Lacasse, arrived in 1970 and departed in 1971, served as Cook.
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Sister Aldéa Roberge1938
Credits:Les Soeurs de la Charité de Montréal, "Soeurs Grises" (The Grey Nuns of Montreal)
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Grey Nun cook prepares to leave on the 'Sancta Maria' plane for Fort Smith1944-1950
Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada
Credits:Marie McKinlay
Fort McMurray Historical Society
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Portrait Focus: Sister Superior Marguerite Lachambre, 1906-1989.Marguerite Lachambre was born in Boucherville, Quebec. Her parents, Edouard Lachambre and Délima Gauthier, both died of tuberculosis when she was four. Marguerite's aunt took custody of her and her brother Pierre until her own death, at which point the two children were placed in separate orphanages. Marguerite's orphanage was run by the Grey Nuns. Marguerite joined the Nuns herself in 1926 and studied nursing in Nashua, US. Once her training was completed, she was sent northward and spent a lot of time in northwestern Canada, including time as the Superior in Fort McMurray.
Marguerite was known for taking things she thought of as "extra" from the hospital and donating them to the poor, so much that the other Sisters began to hide anything they thought they needed so that Sister Superior Lachambre would not give it away. For instance, one afternoon Sister LaChambre met a young mother and her child who had nothing to eat. She went to the kitchen to find the cook. The cook was not there, but what she did find was a ham dinner in the oven. She gave the dinner--all of it--to the young woman. The rest of the Sisters were disappointed by the sudden disappearance of their supper.
Sister Superior was notorious not just for her zealous generosity, but also for her poor driving. When the automotive revolution came to Fort McMurray, Marguerite used the community car despite her advancing age and poor driving skills. She made frequent house visits, and it became a local joke that even the RCMP got off the road when they saw Sister Superior zigzagging towards them.
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Kitchen in St. Gabriel's Hospital1939-1960
St. Gabriel's Hospital and outbuildings, Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada
Credits:Les Soeurs de la Charité de Montréal, "Soeurs Grises" (The Grey Nuns of Montreal)
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Portrait Focus: Sister Jeanne MarchandJeanne Marchand was born in Montreal. As a young nun, she was intrigued by the Canadian north, and in 1949 felt ready to tackle the challenges of frontier living. This made her unlike a number of other Sisters transferred to the area, who went because they were told to and not because they wanted to. Her first assignment was to replace a nurse in Fort Resolute who had fallen ill. After spending some years in Fort Resolute and elsewhere, Sister Marchand arrived in Fort McMurray in 1961, where she worked in St. Gabriel's Hospital. She recalls that the hospital was modern but small, as was the number of Grey Nuns serving the area: "We were only five sisters which was a small community for that era." Jeanne Marchand learned English working in Fort McMurray, since that was the only language consistently used.
After her time in Fort McMurray, she was sent to Aklavik, the northernmost medical centre in the diocese. She became an expert in using the X-ray machines, notwithstanding having received burns from one. During one of her trips to Aklavik she was put on special assignment to test for health effects from the WWII Hiroshima fallout.
Sister Marchand began her career in the north afraid of dogs, but in time she grew attached to them, and they to her. Once a sled dog was attacked by a pack of other dogs. His belly was badly wounded and he had intestines hanging out. The owner insisted that Sister Marchand treat his favourite dog. He held the dog in position for her to operate as Sister Marchand performed the surgery and saved the animal's life. After that, whenever the dog saw her he would run up to her and lick her hands in thanks. By the end of her career, her relationship with sled dogs had changed.
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Nun with dogsled1920-1980
Credits:Les Soeurs de la Charité de Montréal, "Soeurs Grises" (The Grey Nuns of Montreal)
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The New Hospital Opens, the Old Hospital ClosesIn 1964, the Grey Nuns decided that St. Gabriel's had served its purpose. Their order was dedicated to helping frontier towns, and Fort McMurray was now a growing and well-populated city. Not only did the Sisters' mandate no longer apply to the community, but the population was getting too large for the Nuns' resources. After all, St. Gabriel's had been designed for a large village or small frontier town. Therefore Father Lesage wrote a letter to Mayor Claire Peden in 1964, explaining the situation and requesting that a new hospital be built.
In 1966, the Fort McMurray General Hospital opened. The Grey Nuns continued serving in l'Hôpital Saint Gabriel, now using the facilities as a chronic and senior care centre. They also took overflow patients into Saint Gabriel's and sent nurses and nuns to the new hospital to care for patients there. The Nuns' order began sending the Sisters northward to new hospitals and communities. The hospital began phasing out. Saint Gabriel's Hospital was finally and officially closed in 1970. The building was sold to Thompson's Foods Ltd. for $260,000 in 1972, in conjunction with Alberta Grocers Wholesale Ltd. $260,000 in 1972 equals about $1,336,143.50 in 2009, calculated for inflation.
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Nursing aides in front of St. Gabriel's Hospital; 1st and 3rd from left are twins from Plamondon1944
St. Gabriel's Hospital and outbuildings, Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada
Credits:Bill Morimoto
Fort McMurray Historical Society
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The Impact of l'Hôpital Saint GabrielThe Sisters' Hospital was a major benefit to the Fort McMurray community. During the community's growth from the late 1930s through to the late 1960s, Saint Gabriel's Hospital provided health care to a population without a general hospital. The health care staff was well-trained because the Grey Nuns brought in professional nuns and lay staff from eastern, urban centres. This meant that St. Gabriel's often had state-of-the-art technology and the people trained to use it.
Further, the Hospital and the nuns in it provided a number of social services that are not normally associated with hospitals. The Grey Nuns were often determined to generate employment opportunities rather than choose cheaper options that required fewer staff hours. In particular, the Hospital provided employment for young women who had few career prospects in the Canadian frontier of the 1940s, '50s, and '60s. The nuns made grief and family counselling a part of their duties, and found ways of giving food and supplies to the poor.
Through both official and unofficial procedures, St. Gabriel's Hospital had an impact on the community it served until the day of its closure. By providing the necessary health care to the region's infrastructure, the hospital quite likely made Fort McMurray's growth from a frontier town into a modern city possible.
For more information about the Grey Nuns, read, "Northerners Say: 'Thanks, Sisters,'" by Agnus Sutherland s.g.m, and published by Les Oeuvres de Mère d'Youville in 1996. See also "The Bishop Who Cared: A Legacy of Leadership," written and published by Agnus Sutherland s.g.m. in 1995, and "The Place We Call Home," written by Irwin Huberman and published by the Historical Book Society of Fort McMurray in 2001.
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