St. Martha’s Name and Policy Change

After 120 years of dedicated service, the Sisters of St. Martha's involvement at our local hospital concluded earlier this month when St. Martha’s Regional Hospital was renamed Antigonish Memorial Regional Hospital. 

This decision came from the Sisters themselves. They were faced with an aging congregation, a decreasing number of members in the medical field, as well as feeling a societal push to change policies away from traditional Catholic values.

“The removal of religious figures at Antigonish Memorial Regional Hospital was a much-needed change for the community of Antigonish. The lift of the abortion bans in our local healthcare facility is something that should have been done long before now. As an Indigenous young woman I feel far safer receiving reproductive healthcare within a facility with no religious ties than one that does,” remarked Calley Conrad, a student at StFX. “Removing the religious aspects from modern healthcare is extremely necessary… while there is the argument that religions have progressed in their ideologies, I feel as though any religious ties at all could be a barrier for many looking to receive care in our community.”

The Sister of St. Martha hope the name change will draw attention to the fact that it’s not the same hospital anymore, a signal of their leaving. 

The Sisters of St. Martha were established in 1900, six years after which they founded the St. Martha’s Cottage Hospital in response to overwhelming community needs. The Nuns provided free, necessary, and life-saving medical care. In their first year, they treated over a hundred patients and helped stop a typhoid epidemic. Over the years, they continued to grow to keep up with demand, changing buildings multiple times to larger facilities. In 1989, the modern building we know as St. Martha’s Regional Hospital was constructed, still led by the Sisters. 

In 1996, administrative responsibility and ownership were transferred to the provincial government. Nevertheless, the Sisters of St. Martha continued to oversee the hospital through a Mission Assurance Advisory Council to manage values, ethics, and spiritual care. This agreement expired on September 30th of this year after 30 years of collaboration between the government and the congregation. In hopes of maintaining the hospital's Catholic status, the Sisters put forward another sponsor willing to take on the role and who they believe shares their core values: Catholic Health International. Brett MacDougall, Vice-President of Operations in Nova Scotia Health’s eastern zone, shared his opinions on why the government did not choose to go ahead with that partnership, noting that it was the connection to the Sisters of St. Martha that made it truly special. 

The new name was chosen from suggestions made last June by hospital staff, Doctors, and volunteers as a culmination of the hospitals most important identifiers: 

· Antigonish: geographical location 

· Memorial: in recognition of the hospital’s historic importance and the Sisters of St. Martha’s incredible dedication to the community 

· Regional Hospital: to indicate the health care services provided 

As of September 30th, bans on medical assistance in dying (MAID) and abortion will be lifted for the first time. The Minister’s Statement on St. Martha’s Regional Hospital backs this up further, detailing how “when the current agreement concludes, the services and policies at St. Martha’s will more closely align with all other hospitals across Nova Scotia.” Changes will not be immediate; for now they appear to be largely surface-level: signs replaced and religious imagery removed, the most significant difference felt being the absence of the Sisters themselves. A monument dedicated to their legacy now stands near the entrance of the newly renamed hospital, welcoming all who enter as the Sisters once did.