Completed in 1845, this hospital originally opened on Bruyère Street as the Ottawa General Hospital. In 1980, the General moved to its Smyth Road location. Today Élisabeth Bruyère Hospital offers the following programs and services.
** Care of the Elderly and Rehabilitation **
As Ottawa's largest single site provider of in-patient rehabilitation, Élisabeth Bruyère Hospital serves the community with 90 rehabilitation beds. The rehabilitation program is designed to maximize the functional ability of patients who have suffered an injury and offers geriatric and stroke rehabilitation.
In partnership with the Rehabilitation Network of Ottawa, we provide stroke and in-patient geriatric rehabilitation and work in close collaboration with the Regional Geriatric Program of Ottawa.
** Palliative Care **
With 36-beds, Élisabeth Bruyère Hospital is home to Canada’s largest academic palliative care and end-of-life hospital unit and is Ottawa’s only palliative care hospital unit.
There are two types of admissions in the palliative care program; pain and symptom management and end-of-life care. The in-patient care provides an interdisciplinary approach to physical, psychosocial, and spiritual suffering. We also offer an out-patient service through the Palliative Care Pain and Symptom Management Team.
** Our Mission **
Inspired by our founder, Mother Élisabeth Bruyère, we are a Catholic academic continuing care organization committed to improving the quality of life and independence of our patients, residents and clients in the Champlain region.
We do this by providing compassionate and quality care through our commitment to advancing teaching, education and research. We offer care and services in both official languages and we are responsive to the needs of our diverse community.
In collaboration with our partners, we provide complex continuing care, care of the elderly and rehabilitation, palliative care, long-term care and family medicine.
** Our Vision **
To be the champion of well being for aging Canadians and those requiring continuing care.
History Of Elisabeth Bruyere Health Centre
1845 Mother Élisabeth Bruyère and three Sisters arrive in Ottawa.
The Sisters open the first bilingual school in Ontario.
The General Hospital opens its doors at Parent and St. Patrick Street.
1850 Patients are moved to the current Mother House of the Sisters of Charity of Ottawa on Bruyère Street.
1861 Construction of the Ottawa General Hospital begins on Bruyère Street begins.
1866 The first patients are admitted to the Ottawa General Hospital.
1871 The St. Charles Old Age Hospice opens on Cathcart Street (a precursor to Résidence Saint- Louis)
1876 Mother Élisabeth Bruyère passes away.
1924 Saint-Vincent House is founded by Sister Marie Auxiliatrice and seven other Sisters.
1932 Saint-Vincent Hospital opens at its current site on Cambridge Street.
1954 The official opening of the new wing at Saint-Vincent Hospital, bringing capacity to 516 beds.
1959 The official opening of SCO’s Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
1966 Résidence Saint-Louis officially opens in Orléans and welcomes its first residents from Saint-Charles Hospice in Ottawa.
1968 The Grey Nuns of the Cross officially change their name to the Sisters of Charity of Ottawa.
1980 The Ottawa General Hospital moves to its new site at the Ottawa Health Sciences Centre on Smyth Road.
The old Ottawa General site becomes the Élisabeth-Bruyère Health Centre and opens its doors as a chronic care institution.
1983 The Regional Palliative Care Unit opens at Élisabeth-Bruyère Health Centre.
1984 The Saint-Vincent Day Hospital opens.
1988 Villa Marguerite opens at Élisabeth-Bruyère Health Centre.
1991 Construction and renovations begin at Résidence Saint-Louis.
1993 The SCO Health Service is established bringing together the Élisabeth-Bruyère Health Centre, Saint-Vincent Hospital, Résidence Saint-Louis and Villa Marguerite.
The Institute of Palliative Care is launched.
1994 An affiliation agreement between the SCO Health Service and the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine is signed.
1995 The SCO Health Service Mission Statement and Values are formulated.
2000 Research is established as a priority and the University of Ottawa Institute on the Health of the Elderly associated with the SCO Health Service, the CT Lamont Centre, and the University of Ottawa Institute of Palliative Care are created.
2002 Consolidation of Complex Continuing Care at Saint-Vincent Hospital and Rehabilitation at Élisabeth Bruyère Health Centre.
Construction of new wing and renovation of existing wings begin at Saint-Vincent Hospital.
2003 Transfer of sponsorship of SCO Health Service from the Sisters of Charity of Ottawa to the Catholic Healthcare Corporation of Ontario (CHCO).
Research is fully integrated and the Élisabeth-Bruyère Research Institute is founded.
2004 The SCO Health Service Mission Statement and Values are revised.
The affiliation agreement with the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Medicine is updated.
Opening of the new wing at Saint-Vincent Hospital.
2005 The SCO Health Service signs a comprehensive affiliation agreement with the University of Ottawa Faculty of Health Sciences—including the School of Nursing, the School of Rehabilitation Sciences, the School of Human Kinetics and the Program in Health Sciences.
2006 SCO Health Service opens the Primrose Family Medicine Centre. It adopts family medicine as one of its programs.
2007 SCO Health Service recognized as one of seven regional health care providers by the Champlain Local Health Integration Network (LHIN).
2008 On September 12, 2008, SCO Health Service changes its name to Bruyère Continuing Care.
