"If There Is One Class of Patients that Government Aided Hospital Should Make Room and Care for, It Is Maternity Cases": Infectious Disease, Maternal Health, and Public Health in the History of Saskatchewan's Earliest Hospitals, 1895–1919.

This article examines the development of hospitals in Saskatchewan during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, focusing on the emergence and impact of the Union Hospital Act of 1917, which enabled rural municipalities to collaborate through taxation to fund small hospitals. Early hospital establishment was largely driven by charitable religious and women’s organizations, including the Victorian Order of Nurses, with initial priorities centered on infectious disease control for immigrant settlers. Over time, public health officials shifted focus toward maternal and infant health, promoting hospital births as part of broader social and political movements such as the Social Gospel and Maternal Feminism. Despite municipal grants and charitable support, hospitals relied heavily on patient fees, making their financial stability precarious and challenging the assumption that hospitals naturally evolved into pillars of Canada’s Medicare system. The study highlights how Saskatchewan’s hospital history reflects a complex negotiation of social priorities, funding mechanisms, and regional disparities within the province’s rural and agricultural context.