The Montreal Chest Institute Site
The Montreal Chest Institute has operated under several names at different stages of its evolution. In 1903, the hospital was founded as the Anti-Tubercular League of Montreal in response to the terrible tuberculosis epidemic that was claiming 12,000 lives a year in the Quebec region. Its dispensary was established in November 1904, and three doctors worked six days a week, making 900 consultations and 110 home visits in its first year of operation.
Five years later, the Royal Edward Institute was established "for the study, prevention and cure of tuberculosis." It quickly became one of Canada's foremost hospitals specializing solely in respiratory diseases. The Institute provided public education initiatives and school programs as well as hospital services for tuberculosis patients. In 1911, the region's first sanatorium opened in the Laurentian mountain village of Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, with 45 beds, servicing those afflicted with pulmonary tuberculosis and sharing some of the patient load of the Royal Edward Institute.
In 1930, the Royal Edward Institute moved its facilities to the Montreal Chest Institute's current St. Urbain Street address. Within the following two years, it was officially recognized as a McGill University affiliated teaching hospital. A decade later, the Royal Edward Institute and the sanatorium joined to become the Royal Edward Laurentian Hospital. By 1957, the facilities in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts were closed and the construction of a new sanatorium began.
At the Royal Edward, specialists began treating non-tubercular cases and broader research projects were initiated in its laboratories. In 1963, the Royal Edward Laurentian Hospital divided into two separate institutions: the Royal Edward Hospital in Montreal, and the Centre Hospitalier Laurentien in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts. In 1969, the Royal Edward began treating cystic fibrosis patients and, in 1971, changed its name to the Montreal Chest Hospital Centre. In 1994, it merged with the Royal Victoria Hospital to become the Montreal Chest Institute of the RVH.
The Meakins Christie Laboratories were founded in 1972 as an outgrowth of the joint cardiopulmonary laboratories at the Royal Victoria Hospital. First located in the Lyman Duff Medical Sciences Building at McGill, they moved in 1989 to their current location adjacent to the Montreal Chest Institute. The Meakins Christie Laboratories, an important part of the institute, constitute one of the foremost centres for respiratory research in the world today. Named in honour of Drs. Jonathan Meakins and Ronald Christie, former professors and deans of medicine at McGill University and pioneer researchers in the field of pulmonary disease, these laboratories serve as an important training ground for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.
Health care professionals at the Montreal Chest Institute site of the MUHC are dedicated to the pursuit of clinical research in respiratory diseases and allied fields. Research programs at the Chest Institute cover a wide range of disciplines related to respiratory disease, including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cystic fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension, obstructive sleep apnea, and Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
