Name sought for the new hospital complex at the CHU de Québec: Irma LeVasseur is a consensus among historians

According to historians, only one name should be considered for the new CHU de Québec-Université Laval hospital complex following the public consultation process: that of Irma LeVasseur.

All the experts consulted by Le Journal immediately thought of the first French-Canadian female doctor when asked to suggest names of figures deserving of this honor. In fact, they named no others.

• Also read: New hospital complex in Quebec: the CHU launches a consultation to find the name

"She's the first one I thought of," says historian and former Quebec City councilor Réjean Lemoine. "That's what seems most significant to me. She's a woman who hasn't received recognition commensurate with her impact on Quebec society. I think it would be ideal to pay tribute to her."

His colleagues all agree: they believe that the large CHU de Québec-Université Laval complex should bear the name of the founder of the Hôpital de l'Enfant-Jésus and the Hôpital Sainte-Justine.

"She's a fundamental name, and we hear too little about her," continues Jean-François Caron, a specialist in the history of Quebec City. "She is a pillar of medicine in Quebec and of women's education."

Rejected

For historian and lecturer Denis Angers, naming the new hospital after Irma LeVasseur would be an opportunity to rehabilitate this woman who "unjustly died in oblivion and rejection."

"She was a forward-thinking, strong-willed, and somewhat slobbering personality. She defied the social norms of her time, and she paid for it. [...] The Hôpital de l'Enfant-Jésus was her baby. There are other Dominican sisters who contributed, but I can't think of any others who so clearly deserve to be commemorated."

"The CHU has already thought about better highlighting her contribution to the organization's history. I think this is the perfect opportunity. There are streets and a mountain named after her, but she deserves more space in the toponymy of the health system," emphasizes historian Alex Tremblay-Lamarche.

Respect for traditions

The specialists on the other end of the line breathed a sigh of relief when they learned that the first building of the hospital, founded in 1922, would retain its original name and become the Infant Jesus Pavilion.

"It's very important to keep the name L'Enfant-Jésus to preserve tradition. Changing the toponymy, I consider it a false idea of ​​secularism," thinks Réjean Lemoine. "Even if there is a religious connotation, we must not ignore the past."

Journal columnist and author Karine Gagnon wrote the historical novel Irma s'en va-t-en guerre in 2023. In it, she tells how, after years of practice, the woman who had to fight to practice medicine in Quebec left for Serbia, the only woman in a group of 12 Canadian doctors, to treat victims of the First World War.