The hospital was officially founded in 1637 in order to meet the colony's need for healthcare by Marie-Madeleine de Vignerot, the
Duchesse d'Aiguillon (1604-1675), a niece of
Cardinal Richelieu. She entrusted the task to the
Canonesses of St. Augustine of the Mercy of Jesus, the Hospitaller Sisters, whose spiritual vocation was nursing. Three young canonesses left their monastery in
Dieppe, on the coast of the
English Channel, and arrived in
New France on 1 August 1639 with the goal of opening the hospital. They were
Mothers Marie de Saint-Ignace Guenet,
Marie de Saint-Bonaventure Forestier and
Anne de Saint-Bernard Le Cointre. The canonesses established the hospital at its first site in 1640, in what was then the village of
Sillery. In keeping with the wishes of the Duchess, their care was directed to the people of the
First Nations. Dwellings were built near the hospital for the native people to facilitate their care. By 1644, however, they had to abandon the site due to repeated attacks by
Iroquois warriors, and the community moved to the town of Quebec. There the canonesses acquired the site and built the hospital that still stands. Serving the French colonists after that point, it became the leading medical institution for the care of the people of the city. A new hospital for the poor was built in 1693 by
Jean-Baptiste de Saint-Vallier, the second
Bishop of Quebec, known as the
Hôpital-Général de Québec. Initially four canonesses were sent to help in running the hospital. The bishop formally entrusted it to the canonesses of the Hôtel-Dieu in 1698, and the Sisters who served there became an independent
monastery in 1701. The hospital was designated a
National Historic Site of Canada in 1936. The Hôtel-Dieu continued to be operated by the Augustinian canonesses until 1962. ==Description==