The Coqualeetza Indian Hospital was a tuberculosis sanatorium, and later general hospital, for aboriginal people in British Columbia. Located in Sardis, BC, the hospital was converted from the Coqualeetza Institute residential school and officially opened on September 2, 1941. It was initially operated by the Department of Mines and Resources' Indian Affairs branch, but was taken over in 1946 by the newly created Department of National Health and Welfare. On November 19, 1948 a fire broke out at the hospital, which newspapers claim destroyed nearly two-thirds of the building's structure. The following year, numerous Members of Parliament in B.C.'s interior lobbied to have the institution moved to their respective home towns. However, the hospital remained in Sardis and by 1957 it was "the only fully accredited hospital in the Fraser Valley." The hospital closed on September 30, 1969 amidst claims that "modern drug usage and detection techniques" had brought tuberculosis under control and that "any continuation of Indian Hospitals would only lead to further segregation" of whites and B.C.'s aboriginal populace.
Significance
In 1943, it was claimed that Coqualeetza accounted for just over 21 percent of the country's in-patient tubercular care for aboriginals. Largely due to the implementation of occupational programming for patients, the Chilliwack Progress claimed in 1946 that Coqualeetza was "the first complete tuberculosis unit of its kind ... in Canada[.]"