More than 50 years of public service
The Montréal Heart Institute (MHI)
was founded in 1954 by Dr. Paul David. For 45 years, he was the
heart and soul of the Institute, to which he had conferred a
profoundly humanistic character from its very beginnings. Upon
his death in 1999, Dr. David left his successors a priceless
legacy.
In the early 1950s, the science of cardiology was
still in its infancy when a young Dr. Paul David attended a Paris
conference, which instilled in him a sense that the field of
cardiology would develop at lightning speed over the coming
decades. At that moment, he conceived of the project–a
very innovative one for the time–to create a
Montréal-based facility wholly devoted to the
development of cardiology.
Dr. Paul David's dream became a reality thanks to the
wonderful support of the Grey Nuns. They offered to make him Head
of the Cardiology Department and gave him free reign to use the
available space as he pleased. The Cardiology Department was to
have full administrative independence.
A promising beginning
The Montréal Heart Institute (MHI) was born
in 1954. Occupying two floors of the new Hôpital
Maisonneuve, the Institute had 42 beds and a medical team of three
cardiologists and two surgeons. The idea of bringing all cardiology
services together under one roof soon caught on and the Institute
became a model copied around the world.
In January 1966, the Institute moved into newly-built,
specially-designed premises on Bélanger Street. The
building was expanded 10 years later and in 1995 a new wing was
added to house the Research Centre, which had grown considerably
over the years.
Key partners
In the late 1960s, the Institute was fortunate to
attract such a significant patron as Montréal financier,
J.-Louis Lévesque, who
supported the facility for more than a quarter of a century. The
Institute subsequently acquired a partner whose mandate is to raise
funds to support its development. This partner is the
Montréal Heart Institute
Foundation (MHIF). The Institute has been able to count on the
Foundation's increasing support ever since.
