Jérôme le Royer de la Dauversière is the cofounder of the Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph and the pioneer who launched the great adventure that brought this female religious congregation to the region.

Sir James Dunn, a rich industrialist originally from Bathurst, offered a thousand acres of land to the Bishop with the condition that a charitable work be founded there. And so, on May 4, 1931, the Hospitallers of St. Joseph settled in Bathurst, in an area of the region then called Somerset Vale, which the Hospitallers later renamed Vallée-Lourdes, in honor the Virgin Mary. They took possession of Sir James Dunn’s summer house, which he had offered for their use while the sanatorium was being constructed. The facility opened its doors on August 5, 1932.

In 1931, the founding congregation settled in Vallée- Lourdes to care for the sick afflicted with tuberculosis. During this time, the care of the elderly became a concern of the Religious Hospitallers.

Several years passed before they acquired the Rogers’ property, in Vallée-Lourdes. The blessing of the Foyer Saint-Camille-de-Lellis, so named in honor of the new Bishop, Camille-André Leblanc, took place on July 18, 1943. The first residents were admitted on August 25, 1943.

The following years were marked by several moves, until Bishop Camille-André LeBlanc, touched by the needs of these people, took charge of the situation and, with the collaboration of the Religious Hospitallers, constructed a 63-bed nursing home on St. Peter Avenue, in Bathurst. The home, which continued to function under the name Foyer St -Camille de Lellis, opened its doors in 1952.

In 1972, after 22 years of service, the house was condemned by the Department of Health for security reasons. The elderly were moved to the renovated former sanatorium of the Bathurst regional hospital. On October 26, 1974, the last of the 100 residents were admitted. This date marks the birth of the name Le Foyer Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes Inc.