Beginning in 1818, Melville Island was used as a quarantine hospital for ill immigrants arriving in Nova Scotia. The hospital was operational for short periods in 1818, 1831, and 1846. By 1829, ten buildings were left on Melville Island, all "in a state of neglect and decay". In 1831, three doctors (Matthias Hoffman, Samuel Head and John Stirling) were paid £30 each (£2125 as of 2010) to care for patients at the quarantine hospital; a nurse later arrived as Matron, bringing with her two teenaged children. In 1847, over 1200 Irish immigrants fleeing the Great Famine were ordered quarantined on Melville Island by the Board of Health; of these, 203 were held in the "fever hospital", and 30 died. Typhus victims were also held at Melville, during which time the medical staff were not allowed to leave for fear of spreading the infection.