The archives of the Augustinian Monastery of Quebec, which has been expanding for several years, allow us to lift the veil on the little-known role of a nun who nevertheless played an important role in the modernization of our health care.
Entirely renovated, the monastery has now become both a hotel and a health and well-being center, with rooms reserved for health personnel who need a moment of rejuvenation.
The Augustinian Monastery of Quebec is also an important archive center, whose collection continues to be enhanced by additions from other Augustinian monasteries in Quebec, such as those of Chicoutimi, Roberval, Lévis, Montmagny or Gaspé.
Archivists currently have a collection of at least 40,000 old documents and books.
The collection is very varied and still being processed, which leads to discoveries or rediscoveries of stories of nuns who have marked Quebec medicine in their own way.
The acquisition of the archives of the monastery of Chicoutimi has also enabled the archivists to rediscover the fascinating story of a former choir sister who was director of the Hôtel-Dieu de Saint-Vallier hospital in Chicoutimi from 1942 to 1963 and who received the Order of Canada in 1984 for her hard work: Imelda Dallaire.
SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS
Photo taken from the Archives of the Augustinian Monastery
Sister Imelda Dallaire has played an important role in modernizing our health care.
Since the time of New France, the Augustinians have always followed scientific and technological advances in medicine. Sister Marie-Joseph, by her lay name Imelda Dallaire, is an excellent example.
Under his direction, the Hôtel-Dieu de Chicoutimi was at the forefront of health care in the 1940s and 1960s.
She added annexes to increase the examination and operating rooms, but also the number of beds. The hospital had 950 at the turn of the 1960s.
Featured in macleans in 1960
At the same time as managing the Hôtel-Dieu, Sister Imelda Dallaire was also a member of the hospital’s board of directors and a member of the Quebec hospital committee.
In 1947, she obtained her nursing diploma from Laval University, as well as a certificate in accounting sciences from the Institut Marguerite d’Youville.
Among the archives recently stripped from the monastery of Quebec is an article published on July 2, 1960 in the magazine macleans.
Photo taken from the Archives of the Augustinian Monastery
In 1963, the nun left Chicoutimi to found this hospital in Tripoli, Lebanon.
The article highlights how the Hôtel-Dieu de Chicoutimi was at the cutting edge of the latest medical technologies at the time – such as color television broadcasting in operating rooms – and praises the efforts of Sister Imelda Dallaire to follow close to medical advances.
HONORED BY DUPLESSIS
The head of the surgery department, Gérard Gagnon, even mentions how everything is under his supervision, even the salaries of the employees.
His tireless work to constantly improve the care of the sick and to found hospitals like those of Dolbeau and Jonquière, even earned him, according to macleans the nickname of the best businesswoman in Quebec, according to… Maurice Duplessis!
►A portion of the archives of the Augustines is also accessible on their internet portal: archives.monastere.ca/