Dynevor Indian Hospital

Located in Selkirk, Manitoba, Dynevor Indian Hospital was funded by departments of the federal government (at first Indian Affairs and then Health) but run by the Sanatorium Board of Manitoba from 1939 to 1958. Prior to this, the buildings served as a rectory for Anglican missionaries and then, from 1896 to 1939, as an Anglican-run Indian hospital and Home.

Dynevor Indian Hospital contained 50 to 60 beds, and admitted First Nations patients from Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, and some Inuit patients beginning in the early 1950s. Some residential school students who contracted TB were sent to TB hospitals for care. In 1955, nearly one third of Dynevor Hospital patients were children.

The grounds of the hospital, near the west bank of the Red River, were vast and included a large garden that supplied some food for the hospital. The buildings, however, were much less desirable. Built mostly in the 1860s, the buildings required constant repair and there were consistent concerns about fire. The buildings were poorly wired and insulated, which meant they were often damp, and were drafty in the winter while hot in the summer, and they had unventilated and smelly bathrooms.

TB treatment at Dynevor Hospital was basic, consisting of primarily of compelling patients to rest. Exacerbated by a provincial nursing shortage, the hospital struggled to ensure adequate nursing staff. In the 1950s, thanks to the advent of antibiotics and outpatient treatment, rates of TB were decreasing and fewer TB treatment beds were required overall. In response, the Indian Health Service began to close the federally-funded Indian hospitals and instead transfer patients to Ninette or St. Boniface sanatoriums. Dynevor Indian Hospital closed in 1958, and the buildings were thereafter re-purposed as the Saint John's Cathedral Boys' School, an Anglican boarding school for boys.