There’s nothing worse for a mother than watching her child fight for his life. I felt such panic the day the doctors told us our son, only six months at the time, had heart failure.
History
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“To remain at the forefront of scientific and medical advances; to respond to an ever-growing number of patients; to develop new services and continually upgrade equipment ... to recruit and train quality personnel; to maintain a vital sense of purpose—a hospital never shuts its doors nor abandons its mission—this is our never-ending challenge.”
— Justine Lacoste-Beaubien
— Justine Lacoste-Beaubien
Sainte-Justine: A History With a Capital “H”
In the early 20th century, over one in four children in Montréal died in their first year of life, making the city’s infant mortality rate second only to that of Calcutta, India. To counter this staggering trend, Dr. Irma Levasseur, Canada’s first French-speaking female physician, joined forces with philanthropist Justine Lacoste-Beaubien. Thus was born Hôpital Sainte-Justine, on November 27, 1907.
From the beginning, Justine Lacoste-Beaubien intended Sainte-Justine to be a centre of excellence, which meant training and hiring top specialists, purchasing the best equipment, and setting up appropriate facilities.
It is thanks to the invaluable support of the local and business communities that her vision of excellence has been realized over the years. From a modest 12-bed facility, Sainte-Justine has become the internationally renowned mother-child university hospital we’re familiar with today.
Sainte-Justine UHC By-the-Numbers*
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1 489 beds 2 433 physicians 3 1,300 nurses 4 1,000 healthcare professionals 5 Over 180 researchers |
1 1,500 other employees 2 Over 3,000 students 3 Over 300 volunteers 4 Over 250,000 visits * 2008–09 data
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Sainte-Justine UHC Foundation:
For the Love of Children
Sainte-Justine UHC Foundation was created in 1987 out of a merger between Fondation Justine Lacoste-Beaubien and Fondation Sainte-Justine. Since its inception, it has raised more than $275 million for the hospital, working tirelessly to fulfil the dreams of its founder.
Among the Foundation’s major achievements is the “Growing Up Healthy” campaign which began in 2002 and raised $125 million in four years to fund Sainte-Justine UHC’s ambitious modernization and expansion project.
This project aimed at centralizing specialized care is already under way and will continue until 2014. The objectives are to integrate care, teaching and research, to promote the use of state-of-the-art technologies, and to incorporate all aspects of care “with a human touch.”
As part of the “Growing Up Healthy” campaign, the Foundation is pursuing its goal of providing Québec’s children and mothers-to-be one of the best levels of healthcare in the world under the “Picture Me Growing Up Healthy” theme. To achieve this objective, the Foundation funds research, teaching and healthcare projects centred around Sainte-Justine’s six fields of excellence) — the six areas in which the university hospital centre ranks among the top five to ten worldwide.
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