Alberta Hospital Ponoka opens

1908 through 1912. In 1908, the Government of Alberta sought to address the needs of a perceived growing number of people deemed “mental defectives,” with the development of a mental health institution in Ponoka, Alberta. The Alberta Hospital for the Insane, as it was initially known, was opened in 1911. It was built to house 150 patients, as well as homes for nurses and doctors.

In 1922, the Mental Hospital at Ponoka was brought under the administration of the Alberta Department of Health. Both the Alberta Hospital in Ponoka and the Alberta Hospital in Oliver (opened in 1923) catered to the permanent institutionalization of adult psychiatric patients.

Sterilization procedures under the Sexual Sterilization Act required approval of the four person Eugenics Board. Most patients were “presented” to the hoard by a representative of their resident institution. The Alberta Hospital at Ponoka was the main “feeder” institution of the Eugenics Board, and presented sixty percent of all the cases ever considered by the board in the 1930s and 1940s.

Following the 1937 amendment to the Sexual Sterilization Act which removed the requirement for consent, the sterilization of mentally ill adults dropped, the provincial Training School (Red Deer) became the larger “feeder” to the Eugenics Board.

As Alberta’s first mental health institution, the original building of the Alberta Hospital at Ponoka was designated as a Historic Site under the Alberta Historical Resources Act on 15 March 1977.

-Sheila Gibbons

  • Alberta Historic Resources Management Branch. (n.d.). Alberta Culture and Community Spirit, File: Des. 1691.

  • Grekul, J., Krahn, H., & Odynak, D. (2004). Sterilizing the “Feeble-Minded”: Eugenics in Alberta, 1929-1972. Journal of Historical Sociology, 17, 358-384.

  • Canada’s Historic Places. (n.d.). Alberta Hospital Building Number 1. Retrieved from www.historicplaces.ca.

Alberta Hospital Ponoka opens

1908 through 1912. In 1908, the Government of Alberta sought to address the needs of a perceived growing number of people deemed “mental defectives,” with the development of a mental health institution in Ponoka, Alberta. The Alberta Hospital for the Insane, as it was initially known, was opened in 1911. It was built to house 150 patients, as well as homes for nurses and doctors.

In 1922, the Mental Hospital at Ponoka was brought under the administration of the Alberta Department of Health. Both the Alberta Hospital in Ponoka and the Alberta Hospital in Oliver (opened in 1923) catered to the permanent institutionalization of adult psychiatric patients.

Sterilization procedures under the Sexual Sterilization Act required approval of the four person Eugenics Board. Most patients were “presented” to the hoard by a representative of their resident institution. The Alberta Hospital at Ponoka was the main “feeder” institution of the Eugenics Board, and presented sixty percent of all the cases ever considered by the board in the 1930s and 1940s.

Following the 1937 amendment to the Sexual Sterilization Act which removed the requirement for consent, the sterilization of mentally ill adults dropped, the provincial Training School (Red Deer) became the larger “feeder” to the Eugenics Board.

As Alberta’s first mental health institution, the original building of the Alberta Hospital at Ponoka was designated as a Historic Site under the Alberta Historical Resources Act on 15 March 1977.

-Sheila Gibbons

  • Alberta Historic Resources Management Branch. (n.d.). Alberta Culture and Community Spirit, File: Des. 1691.

  • Grekul, J., Krahn, H., & Odynak, D. (2004). Sterilizing the “Feeble-Minded”: Eugenics in Alberta, 1929-1972. Journal of Historical Sociology, 17, 358-384.

  • Canada’s Historic Places. (n.d.). Alberta Hospital Building Number 1. Retrieved from www.historicplaces.ca.

Alberta Hospital Ponoka opens

1908 through 1912. In 1908, the Government of Alberta sought to address the needs of a perceived growing number of people deemed “mental defectives,” with the development of a mental health institution in Ponoka, Alberta. The Alberta Hospital for the Insane, as it was initially known, was opened in 1911. It was built to house 150 patients, as well as homes for nurses and doctors.

In 1922, the Mental Hospital at Ponoka was brought under the administration of the Alberta Department of Health. Both the Alberta Hospital in Ponoka and the Alberta Hospital in Oliver (opened in 1923) catered to the permanent institutionalization of adult psychiatric patients.

Sterilization procedures under the Sexual Sterilization Act required approval of the four person Eugenics Board. Most patients were “presented” to the hoard by a representative of their resident institution. The Alberta Hospital at Ponoka was the main “feeder” institution of the Eugenics Board, and presented sixty percent of all the cases ever considered by the board in the 1930s and 1940s.

Following the 1937 amendment to the Sexual Sterilization Act which removed the requirement for consent, the sterilization of mentally ill adults dropped, the provincial Training School (Red Deer) became the larger “feeder” to the Eugenics Board.

As Alberta’s first mental health institution, the original building of the Alberta Hospital at Ponoka was designated as a Historic Site under the Alberta Historical Resources Act on 15 March 1977.

-Sheila Gibbons

  • Alberta Historic Resources Management Branch. (n.d.). Alberta Culture and Community Spirit, File: Des. 1691.

  • Grekul, J., Krahn, H., & Odynak, D. (2004). Sterilizing the “Feeble-Minded”: Eugenics in Alberta, 1929-1972. Journal of Historical Sociology, 17, 358-384.

  • Canada’s Historic Places. (n.d.). Alberta Hospital Building Number 1. Retrieved from www.historicplaces.ca.