At the beginning of the last century, more than one child out of four died before reaching its first year. Moved by this situation, Irma Levasseur (1878-1964) (french only), the first French-Canadian woman doctor, raises the awareness of this problem in her profession and entourage.
Her meeting with Justine Lacoste-Beaubien as well as the generosity of friends and benefactors made it possible to open the first French-speaking pediatric hospital in Montreal in a house on Saint-Denis on November 26, 1907. In this twelve-bed hospital, it received its first patient, the dying child that Irma Levasseur had been treating at home.
The Hospital was incorporated the following year. This was the first milestone in a long history of innovation. The Hôpital Sainte-Justine grew rapidly with the support of women who were devoted to the children’s cause.