  the hÃ´tel-dieu de montrÃ©al, founded in 1645, is the oldest hospital in montreal, quebec. since 1996 it has been one of the three hospitals making up the centre hospitalier de l'universitÃ© de montrÃ©al (chum). "hÃ´tel-dieu," literally "hostel of god," is an archaic french term for hospital, referring to the origins of hospitals as religious institutions. ==history== the origins of the hÃ´tel-dieu de montrÃ©al date to the arrival in 1642 of paul chomedey and a small party of french settlers on the island of montreal to found the french colony of ville-marie. among them was jeanne mance, the first nurse in new france. she founded the hospital on october 8, 1645, as confirmed by letters patent of louis xiv of france in april 1669.buescher, john. "religious orders of women in new france", teaching history website, accessed august 21, 2011 in addition to returning to france to seek financial support for the hospital, in 1657 mance recruited three sisters of the religious hospitallers of st. joseph (religieuses hospitaliÃ¨res de saint-joseph) order of nuns to serve with her as staff. their order was founded in 1636 by a layman, jÃ©rÃ´me le royer de la dauversiÃ¨re, along with mother marie de la fere, in la fleche, france. guillaume bailly, a sulpician missionary, is credited with drawing up the plans for the stone structure that was built in 1688. the hospital burned and was rebuilt three times between 1695 and 1734. after the conquest of new france by the british, for two centuries, it was the only french-language hospital in montreal. around 1850, the hospital became affiliated with the montreal school of medicine and surgery. it continued to grow until 1861, when 
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