Coqualeetza Indian Hospital

The Coqualeetza Indian Hospital which was located in Sardis, British Columbia, Canada, on the traditional homelands of the Stó:lō peoples, served as a tuberculosis ward for Indigenous peoples in the surrounding area. The ward, which later became a general hospital, was converted from the Coqualeetza Residential School and later launched its official opening on September 2, 1941. After multiple budget cuts, the Department of Indian Affairs was reduced to a branch of the Department of Mines and Resources in 1936. The branch operated the hospital until 1946 when the Department of National Health and Welfare was established and took over its management. Local newspaper the Chilliwack Progress covered the fire that broke out at the hospital on November 19, 1948 which had destroyed a large amount of the building’s infrastructure. In 1949, many of British Columbia’s parliamentary members lobbied for Coqualeetza’s removal from Sardis, wanting to relocate the hospital to their own districts. Advocates in Sardis, however, rallied to make sure Coqualeetza remained and in 1957, it was named one of the only fully accredited hospitals in Fraser Valley. With tuberculosis more manageable due to the use of modern drugs and increased ability to detect positive cases, Coqualeetza closed on September 30, 1969. Administrator James Thompson had said that continuing to operate exclusively Indigenous

Hospital data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).