New mental hospital opened in Coquitlam, British Columbia

1904. In 1904, the British Columbian provincial government secured more land in order to build a new institution to house the mentally ill, particularly patients overflowing from the Provincial Hospital for the Insane, in New Westminster. This new institution was opened in Coquitlam, British Columbia, and became Essondale (also known as Riverview Hospital). Creation of such new institutions helped segregate the mentally ill from the rest of the population.

Many of the patients at the Provincial Hospital for the Insane (PHI) helped clear the land. The new site was called Essondale after Dr. Henry Esson Young, the Provincial Secretary who advocated for the new hospital. Essondale institution was under the supervision of Assistant Medical Superintendent, Dr. Freeze and Medical Superintendent, Dr. Doherty upon its opening. The hospital made use of farmland, to provide manual labour for patients, which was believed to be beneficial.

-Erna Kurbegovic and Colette Leung

  • Boschma, G. (2011). Deinstitutionalization Reconsidered: Geographic and Demographic Changes in Mental Health Care in British Columbia and Alberta, 1950-1980. Histoire Sociale/Social History, 44(88).

  • Foulkes, R. (1961). British Columbia Mental Health Services: Historical Perspective to 1961. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 85, 649-655.

New mental hospital opened in Coquitlam, British Columbia

1904. In 1904, the British Columbian provincial government secured more land in order to build a new institution to house the mentally ill, particularly patients overflowing from the Provincial Hospital for the Insane, in New Westminster. This new institution was opened in Coquitlam, British Columbia, and became Essondale (also known as Riverview Hospital). Creation of such new institutions helped segregate the mentally ill from the rest of the population.

Many of the patients at the Provincial Hospital for the Insane (PHI) helped clear the land. The new site was called Essondale after Dr. Henry Esson Young, the Provincial Secretary who advocated for the new hospital. Essondale institution was under the supervision of Assistant Medical Superintendent, Dr. Freeze and Medical Superintendent, Dr. Doherty upon its opening. The hospital made use of farmland, to provide manual labour for patients, which was believed to be beneficial.

-Erna Kurbegovic and Colette Leung

  • Boschma, G. (2011). Deinstitutionalization Reconsidered: Geographic and Demographic Changes in Mental Health Care in British Columbia and Alberta, 1950-1980. Histoire Sociale/Social History, 44(88).

  • Foulkes, R. (1961). British Columbia Mental Health Services: Historical Perspective to 1961. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 85, 649-655.