HEALTH CARE INSTITUTIONS / was hungry and you gave me food, I was sick and you took care of me. (Matthew 25,35) The Charlottetown Hospital In 1879 a major event brought a new light to the diocese and Island. That year saw the opening of the Charlottetown Hospital, a vision of Bishop Maclntyre and made possible by the arrival of six Grey Nuns from Quebec to administer it. Located in the former bishop's residence on , roughly where the basilica sacristy now stands, it was the first hospital on the Island which the sisters named "Sacred Heart Hospital". At its beginning the hospital had twelve beds. It was open to patients of any religion and almost all the staff doctors at first were not Roman Catholic. This is a good example of ecumenical co-operation long before this spirit became more common in recent times. Because of overcrowding, a new hospital opened on in 1892. Ten years later a new wing was added. In 1918 the maternity department opened and two years after that came the launching of the school of nursing there which became one of the hospital's brightest gems. In 1925 a bright new brick hospital opened its doors and a local newspaper article of the day referred to it as "one of the best east of Montreal". Meanwhile the old hospital was turned into an institution for the elderly and named "Sacred Heart Home". A significant change in the management of the hospital occurred in 1925 when the Grey Nuns terminated their services here and returned to various postings in Quebec . First Charlottetown Hospital At that time as many as twenty of their sisters were active here. With the departure of the Grey Nuns the Sisters of Saint Martha became the new administrators of the hospital. This sudden new responsibility was difficult for them at first. Despite this, the Sisters of Saint Martha were soon able to handle their new duties at the hospital with true dedication and expertise and did so for more than half a century. In 1 950 a large new addition to the hospital made it truly a health care facility of which to be justifiably proud. Fundraising for an institution of this magnitude is never ending. One of the most dedicated groups for this was the St. Charles Auxiliary, a group of Charlottetown women, which remained in existence for almost as long as the hospital tself and raised hugh amounts of financial aid. Another successful fund raiser was the annual mammoth hospital bazaar. Nursing graduates' ring and pin. 20 ♦ Health Care Institutions