The Brett Sanatorium: developing hospital care in Banff

Dr. Robert Brett, a company doctor for the Canadian Pacific Railway, established the Brett Sanatorium and Hotel in the 1880s, in response to the discovery of the sulphur hot springs in Banff. Their marvelous healing powers quickly became well-known throughout the world and attracted many wealthy people to come and "take the waters." The railway hospital treated workers and others above the billiard hall. When the building was overflowing, heated tents were used and these also came in handy for isolation wards when the epidemics of the time hit.

The story goes that Dr. Brett had a fire lit in one of these tents to house a traveller with pneumonia and it wasn't until someone noticed a strange smell in the area, that they discovered the poor man had been forgotten and had died. Perhaps this spurred the concerned citizens to build a new hospital and the subsequent school of nursing in 1909. Lectures were given to the student nurses by the staff nurses and Dr. Brett and his son, Dr. Harry Brett whenever any of them had the time, and the student nurses received a stipend of between ten and twenty dollars a month.