The Hôpital-Général de Québec is a Canadian medical facility located in the tiny municipality of

Notre-Dame-des-Anges Notre-Dame-des-Anges is a parish municipality in Quebec, Canada, home of the General Hospital of Quebec. Enclaved within the territory of Quebec City, this unusual municipality had a population of 241 and measures only 6 hectares (15 acres) in ...

, Quebec (which consists solely of the hospital), surrounded by the

La Cité-Limoilou La Cité-Limoilou is the central borough of Quebec City, the oldest (in terms of architecture), and the most populous, comprising 21.85% of the city's total population. As an administrative division, it is very new, having only been formed on ...

borough of

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

. It was classified as an historic site in 1977 by the Quebec government. Additionally, an archeological site listed on the ''Inventaire des sites archéologiques du Québec'' (Register of archeological sites of Quebec) is located there. The central portion of the hospital cemetery, where over 1,000 French and British soldiers who died in the battles of the

Plains of Abraham The Plains of Abraham (french: Plaines d'Abraham) is a historic area within the Battlefields Park in Quebec City, Quebec, anada. It was established on 17 March 1908. The land is the site of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, which took plac ...

and Sainte-Foy are interred, is a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being ...

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

Louis-Joseph de Montcalm is buried at the cemetery.

History

The hospital was founded in 1692 by Jean-Baptiste de Saint-Vallier, the second Bishop of Quebec. He had just acquired the Friary of Our Lady of the Angels (''Notre-Dame-des-Anges'') from the

Recollect The Recollects (french: Récollets) were a French reform branch of the Friars Minor, a Franciscan order. Denoted by their gray habits and pointed hoods, the Recollects took vows of poverty and devoted their lives to prayer, penance, and spiri ...

Friars Minor, who then relocated to the

Place d'Armes Place may refer to: Geography * Place (United States Census Bureau), defined as any concentration of population ** Census-designated place, a populated area lacking its own municipal government * "Place", a type of street or road name ** Often ...

within the town. The bishop had the friary building converted for use as a hospital, to care for the poor of the region. The following year, Saint-Vallier requested that the

Canonesses of St. Augustine of the Mercy of Jesus The Canonesses of St. Augustine of the Mercy of Jesus (Augustinian Hospitallers) are a Roman Catholic religious order of canonesses who follow a semi-contemplative life and are also engaged in the ministry of caring for the sick and needy, from whi ...

, who had founded the

Hôtel-Dieu de Québec The Hotel-Dieu de Québec is a teaching hospital located in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, and affiliated with Université Laval's medical school. It is part of the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Québec (CHUQ), a network of five teaching hos ...

, send some of its members to Notre-Dame-des-Anges to help in the running of the hospital. In response, four canonesses arrived to take up this work. In 1698 the bishop entrusted the institution completely to the canonesses of the Hôtel-Dieu. The community of the canonesses operating the General Hospital formed an independent monastery in 1701. Over time, the hospital began to specialize in the chronic care of the aged and poor.

Current status

The Hôpital-Général now serves as a long-term care home for elderly people suffering from

cognitive deficit Cognitive deficit is an inclusive term to describe any characteristic that acts as a barrier to the cognition process. The term may describe * deficits in overall intelligence (as with intellectual disabilities), * specific and restricted defic ...

s, under the name ''Centre d'hébergement Hôpital général de Québec.'' It is operated by the ''Centre de santé et de services sociaux de la Vieille-Capitale'', the area's health and social services agency. Moulin à vent de l'Hôpital-Général-de-Québec

Moulin à vent de l'Hôpital-Général-de-Québec

The building includes a museum, which houses many works of art from the 17th and 18th centuries done by local artists. Prominent among them is the work of a member of the community, Mother Marie-Madeleine de Saint-Louis Maufils, O.S.A. (1671-1702), who developed a unique style in painting scenes of the city, and who died from nursing victims of an outbreak of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

in the region. The remains of Bishop Saint-Valliers are entombed in the monastery chapel, built by the Recollect friars in 1671.

Historical publications

*Répertoire des mariages de l'Hôpital général de Québec (Paroisse Notre-Dame-des-Anges) - 1693-1961, compiled by Benoit Pontbriand, Société Canadienne de Généalogie (Québec), 35 pages.

References

External links

Official website of the hospital
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopital General De Quebec Hospitals in Quebec City Hospitals established in the 17th century Monasteries of Canonesses Regular 1692 establishments in the French colonial empire French colonial architecture in Canada

History

Current status

Historical publications

See also

References

External links