Nova Scotia Hospital

Identity area

Type of entity

Corporate body

Authorized form of name

Nova Scotia Hospital

Parallel form(s) of name

    Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules

      Other form(s) of name

      • Provincial Hospital for the Insane
      • Nova Scotia Hospital for the Insane
      • Mount Hope Lunatic Asylum

      Identifiers for corporate bodies

      Description area

      Dates of existence

      1856-

      History

      Established as the Provincial Hospital for the Insane in 1858, the hospital was also referred to as the Nova Scotia Hospital for the Insane until February 1901, when the hospital's name was legally established as Nova Scotia Hospital. Because the hospital was located in the Mount Hope area of Dartmouth, it was popularly known for many years as the Mount Hope Lunatic Asylum. Construction of the Nova Scotia Hospital began in 1856, and the hospital opened its doors in December 1857. An Act for the Management of the Hospital for the Insane, passed in 1858, outlined the hospital's objective of providing humane and enlightened curative treatment for the mentally incompetent. The lieutenant-governor was empowered to appoint a board of commissioners to supervise the hospital's expenditures and general operations, and a medical superintendent to act as the hospital's chief executive officer. The hospital operated under the jurisdiction of the board of commissioners until 1861, when it was placed under the Board of Works. In 1878 the hospital was transferred to the control of the Board of Commissioners of Public Charities and in 1931 to the Nova Scotia Department of Public Health. On 1 January 2001 the Health Authorities Act came into force and the Nova Scotia Hospital lost its status as a public body. The former Nova Scotia Hospital became the Mental Health Program of the new metropolitan Capital District Health Authority.

      Places

      Legal status

      Functions, occupations and activities

      Mandates/sources of authority

      Internal structures/genealogy

      General context

      Relationships area

      Access points area

      Subject access points

      Place access points

      Occupations

      Control area

      Authority record identifier

      Institution identifier

      Rules and/or conventions used

      Status

      Revised

      Level of detail

      Dates of creation, revision and deletion

      2023-12 Paul Maxner

      Language(s)

        Script(s)

          Sources

          Maintenance notes