1 South Prospect

The Bishop DeGoesbriand Hospital Unit

The Bishop DeGoesbriand Medical Unit envelops the entire city block along Pearl Street between South Prospect Street and South Williams Street with its multiple additions, making it the largest and most dominant structure on the University Green. Its story begins in the late nineteenth century when Reverend Louis DeGoesbriand originally of Brittany, France came to the United States to do missionary work. ^[1] After arriving in Burlington,Vermont he was named the First Bishop of the new Catholic Diocese of Burlington in 1853. Bishop DeGoesbriand had a vision of creating a hospital that would cater to the Catholic population of Vermont. He maintained close connections with the Hotel Dieu of Montreal that eventually took over a existing medical center in Colchester and re-established it as Fanny Allen Hospital. ^[2] Before his death in 1892, DeGoesbriand purchased two valuable pieces of land in Burlington and willed them to the Diocese. ^[3] In March of 1905 the same land was conveyed to the Fanny Allen Hospital by the Diocese, but was once again in the possession of the Diocese by 1924. ^[4] In 1910 Reverend Joseph J. Rice of Springfield, Massachusetts was named the third Bishop of Burlington. Bishop Rice shared DeGoesbriand’s vision for a hospital for the people of Burlington and in 1922 is was announced that the Diocese would build a new hospital on the land purchased by the late Bishop and the structure would be named in his dedication. Ground was broken for the new construction in April of 1922. ^[5] The first corner stone was laid in June of 1923, and patients were admitted into the one-hundred and eighty-eight room hospital in September of 1925. ^[6]

            The Architectural Firm McGinnis & Walsh of Boston, Massachusetts, designed the hospital. ^[7] The exterior is sand colored brick and the style is Commercial Gothic boasting a granite block porch on its original South Prospect Street entrance. On the top entablature of the building, carved in stone, is the Vermont State coat-of-arms with a large stone cross, centered above it. The right corner of the building displays the DeGoesbriand family coat-of-arms, while the left adorns that of Bishop Joseph John Rice, who officiated construction of the hospital. (The image on the left shows the entrance façade of the original hospital building designed by McGinnis & Walsh.)

            Shortly after opening its doors, it became evident that the hospital was not large enough to properly service the people of Burlington. In a history recorded by Sister Margret Nolin of the Holy Family Convent (who was also a nurse at the hospital), Nolin recalls the Winooski River flood of 1927 and the devastation it caused, making it impossible for the people of Burlington to make it to Fanny Hospital across the river. This event caused much concern and it was decided that the obstetrics ward would be moved to DeGoesbraind Hospital so that such services would be more readily available. ^[8] During that same year, in a barn on the hospital’s land, the DeGoesbriand Hospital opened its first school of nursing for the nuns of the diocese. ^[9]

            The first building addition on the DeGoesbriand Hospital was called the St. Johns Pavilion. Extending west off of the rear elevation of the original structure, construction began in 1944. The new wing included a prenatal nursery, an isolation suite, laboratories and operating rooms, a waiting room and cafeteria, as well as a new chapel. ^[10] The new building was completed in 1948 and doubled the size of the hospital. ^[11] In 1958 a laundry wing was added to the Southwestern annex of the property. ^[12]

The second major addition was a rehabilitation center. Its [13] groundbreaking ceremony was held on July 3, 1958. ^[14] The building designed by architect Julian Goodrich, extends south off the St. John Pavilion. In addition to a rehabilitation center, it housed the new Jeanne Mance School of Nursing, which would later merge with the University of Vermont. ^[15] In 1967, the Bishop DeGoesbriand Hospital merged with Mary Fletcher Hospital. Together the two became the Medical Center Hospital of Vermont with a total of 585 beds. ^[16]

Since the hospital opened it had always worked with students of the University of Vermont College of Medicine did not officially create a partnership until the 1940s. ^[17] In 1977 the University of Vermont purchased the entire DeGoesbriand Unit for 3.8 million dollars. ^[18] Under the supervision of the University of Vermont President Coor, approximately 100,000 square feet of the units 160,000 square feet was leased back to the Medical Center Hospital. ^[19]

Today the University of Vermont owns the entire complex. Within the buildings are medical offices, classrooms for the medical school as well as the student health center. A large portion of the building is leased to the Fletcher Allen Hospital and is used for patient care; there is also a pharmacy as well as numerous medical research labs throughout the building. The relationship between DeGoesbriand Hospital, Fletcher Allen Hospital and the University of Vermont Medical College is as strong as ever today.

Text and photos by Lisa Crompton