Before the current facility was built, Dalhousie had a maternity clinic, opened by Dr. Bénédict Pothier in 1943 at 393 Goderich Street, and a small, very modest hospital in a large house on Adelaide Street, opened in the summer of 1946 by Campbellton’s Religious Hospitallers of Saint-Joseph.
On October 18, 1948, at the urging of Mgr. Godbout and the municipal council, at a time when the Religious Hospitallers were returning to Campbellton to concentrate solely on running the Hôtel-Dieu, which they had been running for several years, the Filles de Jésus bought the small hospital and all its equipment for $59,224.96. The small hospital, with its 12 beds, had become inadequate to meet the needs of the community, so the Filles de Jésus began the process of building and running a new hospital. They covered the facility's costs of $1.5 million. The St-Joseph Hospital officially opened its doors on May 18, 1953, in Dalhousie; it had 75 beds.
In 1959, after much thought and reorganization, the number of beds was increased to 101.
In 1962, expansion work was undertaken in response to the ever-increasing number of patients being treated and the insufficient number of beds. A new wing was built on the fourth floor, above the chapel, and 15 beds were added, as well as a new surgical room and recovery room.
In 1967, the need for more space was felt, as was the need for new and better services. A new expansion was then considered, and the Filles de Jésus agreed to give up the rooms they occupied in the hospital. On February 3, 1969, the project began. It was at this time that the main entrance on the first floor was closed and the large porch demolished. The former ambulance entrance on the ground floor became the new main entrance to the hospital.
In 2005, the hospital was converted into a community health centre. ECG, radiology and laboratory diagnostic services were maintained. Other services were added: ambulatory care, a walk-in clinic and a collaborative practice unit with six doctors and two nurse practitioners. Two years later, the satellite hemodialysis unit welcomed its first patients.
New programs, services and community health clinics have gradually been added. In February 2022, the walk-in clinic closed due to a shortage of doctors and nurse practitioners. In December of the same year, the St-Joseph Community Health Centre (SJCHC) welcomed NB Health Link to help meet the needs of orphan patients.
Today, the SJCHC offers primary health care (ongoing care in health promotion and the prevention of injuries, illnesses and complications) aimed at improving the health of the people of the Restigouche region.
