ALBERTA HOSPITAL
17480 Fort Road NW
Status: Operational Psychiatric Campus
By <span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span> - <span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
Building 9 Above - one of the most active buildings
History
The institution was opened on July 1, 1923 as the Institute For The Feebleminded. It covers 275 acres with a total 45 buildings although some have been torn down.
In 2009 the Alberta Health Services closed down 106 beds of the 406 remaining. This decision was hotly opposed by the hospital itself. The patients remaining here are either voluntary or held under the Criminal Codes of Alberta or Canada.
Paranormal Activity
With the infamy of Charles Camsell Hospital (upcoming article) and Edmonton General (see location) this location often gets missed in most listings of haunted locations of Edmonton. Nonetheless it should not be forgotten. Edmonton may have more haunted hospitals than any other city in the world.
Building 9
Has been reported as giving off large amounts of energy and has been described as just being plain "friggen creepy". The level of energy seems to increase after dark and it is avoided once the sun is set unless absolutely necessary. There are also reports of a feeling of being watched from the dark windows.
Buidling 12
Once used a palliative care unit and there were reports of patients becoming very upset to the point of kicking and screaming and warning staff of something standing behind them. This was especially prevalent in a room in the back of the building near the washrooms.
The washrooms themselves are reported as having large very very cold spots and sights of shadow figures. One report is of the room becoming suddenly freezing with a sight of a shadow figure followed by the patient in the next room suddenly becoming very upset - do we see a pattern here?
Other activity: Apparitions of former patients and staff have been seen both the buildings and on the grounds. Shadow figures are commonly reported here. Feelings of being watched, not being alone, not being wanted and of unease and fear. Light anomalies and unexplained noises have also been reported.
CHARLES CAMSELL HOSPITAL
114 Ave NW & 128 St NW
Status: Former Aboriginal Hospital; Abandoned
History
This hospital was opened in 1967 as a joint project between Aboriginal Affairs and the United Church. It was closed down in 1996 and as of 2021 was still standing completely abandoned.
Some of the outlying buildings have been demolished such as the TB Sanitarium but the main building still stands today.
While open, the hospital was rampant with rumors of neglect and mistreatment, often leading to deaths. There are reports of a mass grave filled with children to the south of the main building which is now a construction site.
Outcry from the public for a long time was largely ignored and reportedly the graves stood under heavy equipment parking lot.
Finally – with the long over due issues with Canada’s Residential School System – investigations have begun. As of August 2021, searches for the probably numerous unmarked burial sites have begun.
A Class Action lawsuit in regards to terrible treatment patients suffered through also began in August 2021.
Paranormal Activity
Investigations here are very difficult to gain permission for – rightfully so. Should you get permission please remember these people suffered great and unfairly in this location; and were not allowed to leave. They were imprisoned and tortured for no other reason then their ethnicity.
While it is not this website’s job to debate political or religious decisions please treat these people with the respect they were denied during life.
A feeling of being watched from the many empty windows, screams have been recorded on the 4th floor which was once home to psych ward. Also on the 4th floor, a psychic has identified the ghost of a teenage girl who has torn all of her fingernails out.
There are still bloodstains on the floor of the second floor which had been the surgical ward and the elevator to the morgue goes up and down on its own.
Other activity – phantom footsteps are heard in the hallways, patients still cry for help from their rooms, general feeling of unease and numerous light anomalies.
Testimonial
From DS
“I saw that you wanted to get a story if anyone had a paranormal encounter there, and I figured tonight fit your bill.
We are a group of friends who like to get together and go for late night drives. A couple in the group had never been to the Charles Camsell before, or even really in the area. We naturally thought that, hell, why not? It couldn’t hurt to go see it.
I have always been sensitive to these kinds of things, and have always kind of felt a presence if there is one to be had. A good example is the man who inhabits the entry way at the old Dairy Queen I used to work at (a harmless, just loud and very present spirit.) However, the Camsell is something I avoided, I had no need to get involved in whatever was there. We made it to Westmount Mall before we felt the presence of the Hospital, and you can’t even see it from Westmount. This was about 2:30, 3 when we arrived there. Now, three of us in the group are like myself, we have a strong sense. All of us were on edge when we could see the building. We all parked across the street, and a group even approached the fence. Myself and another member, a girl who is a Wiccan, stood back. From where we stood, we watched the image of a fully formed man walk across the street (I originally thought he was an actual man approaching our friends), until he turned and looked at us, an unearthly face, and vanish. Naturally myself and the girl freaked out. The group at the fence however was far more interested in the while silhouette of a man standing in the fifth floor window looking down on them. We all left the area shortly after and swore never to return.”
EDMONTON GENERAL CONTINUING CARE CENTRE
(Old Edmonton General)
11111 Jasper Avenue
Status: Former Hospital; Hospice Facility
This is an active continuing care and hospice facility and, while accessible to the public, these patients are living out the twilight – and in some cases last – days of their lives. It shouldn’t have to be said that these patients deserve the upmost of respect.
It is not practicable to do an investigation here. Many of the areas with the most reported paranormal activity are closed off and entrance is strictly forbidden. Permission would have to be given either by a staff member or Alberta Health Services to gain entrance.
Much of the information contained in the paranormal activity in this article is from personal interviews with staff and former staff.
History
The original Edmonton General Hospital was founded by the Grey Nuns in 1895. Previous to this Edmonton had no hospitals while Calgary (280 kms or 174 miles) south had two hospitals – this was due to the train going through Calgary but not Edmonton at the time.
Land for the hospital was purchased from the Hudson’s Bay Company at a cost $2,800. A Mother Superior and 6 other nuns were brought in from both Quebec and Manitoba to run the hospital. The original building had 3 floors – one of the biggest buildings in Edmonton at the time – 1st floor was a ward for women, 2nd floor a ward for men and the 3rd floor an operating theatre and private rooms for the nuns. The cost of the original building was $30,000.
The hospital officially opened February 6, 1896 and by December had 31 patients. This being long before the days of Universal Healthcare people who couldn’t pay for the services were given to the doctor of the month while those who could pay were able to choose any doctor they wanted. Unless, of course, you were pregnant out of wedlock – then you could not be admitted period unless you had a great deal of money. The hospital was run by the Catholic Church after all.
The City did provide money for people who couldn’t pay for the services although they would continually cut that amount down as often as they could. The Territorial Government – the Province of Alberta did not exist until 1905, until then Edmonton was part of the Northwest Territories - only paid for new immigrants to Canada for a period of 12 months.
In 1905 Alberta became a Province in its own right and Edmonton it’s Capital things began to change. The government began to get more involved in healthcare forcing the churches out and institutions like Nursing Schools were created in the early 20th Century. The advent of World War did help the hospital financially with number of injured soldiers returning from European battlefields – renovations to the hospital where made at this time.
During the 1930’s the Great Depression affected the hospital financially but it also saw the beginnings of hospitals banding together in associations and the first hints of Universal Heathcare. It was also the first time the hospital administration – still the Grey Nuns – used collection agents to try to recover lost income. The private rooms were barely used at this time as no one could afford them. All planned construction projects to expand the hospital were halted in the Depression.
In an example of the worst possible timing during this time the 1895 building failed a fire inspection and the second floor had to be closed. In reaction to this the hospital formed an advisory board for the first time and administrative control began to slip from the Grey Nuns.
In 1940 a new 5 story building was built. This building still forms the core of the hospital as it is today.
World War II created massive staff shortages, all but crippling the hospital, but at least money was there again. Soon after the war oil was discovered in Alberta bringing financial security to many institutions in the Province they had never previously enjoyed. At the hospital, this allowed expansion and the formation of policies to protect itself from financial ruin. Then Universal Healthcare became a reality and changed the face of healthcare in Canada forever.
In the 1950’s and 60’s the hospital continued to expand while control transferred ever more so into the hands of the administrators from the Nuns and the Church. At the same time Alberta built a sanatorium specifically for the treatment of tuberculosis patients opening up multiple wards in the hospital.
In 1970 the Edmonton General Hospital was reorganized into the Edmonton General Continuing Care Centre and focused on caring for elderly patients unable to care for themselves. Many wards were shut down at this time including the operating theatres and the pediatric ward and they remain so to this day.
Paranormal Activity
This hospital is considered to be one of the most haunted buildings in Canada. When just hospitals – not including psychiatric facilities – are considered it is only beat out by one other hospital - also in Edmonton (Charles Camsell Hospital)
The building is divided into 4 wings A, B, C and Y.
A Wing is the original part of the hospital and used mostly as offices and storage at this point. A man dressed in all black including a top hat wanders the halls. He appears as solid as you and I and has been spoken to by many people. He generally disappears into thin air as soon as the witness is distracted or their view of him is blocked.
B Wing was the former surgical ward; it is now closed off. Although it has not been used since 1970 people still report the smells of sick people and a working hospital – ie antiseptic, anesthesia etc. There are also reports of witnesses seeing surgeries still taking place in the old surgery theatres – these scenes disappear as soon as anyone opens the door into the theatre. The floors still have stains on them from blood and other fluids.
In the basement an electrician was killed while working and still wanders the corridors below ground.
The former pediatric ward was converted into a ward for housing Alzheimer’s patients but had to be closed because the patients complained about the constant sounds of children laughing. The apparitions of children have been seen running up and down the halls here as well as in the patient’s rooms when they still used this ward.
A woman wanders the 6th through 8th floors who died during child birth. She seems to be spending eternity hopelessly searching for her lost child. The baby passed away shortly after birth.
While constructing a balcony on the 8th floor in Y ward a man fell to his death. His ghost is said to forever wander the floor.
General Reports: apparitions of former patients, doctors, nurses and nuns, pages going off in patient’s rooms randomly both occupied and unoccupied rooms, phantom voices, weeping, screams, moans, bangs and crashes, feelings of unease, not being alone and not being wanted, doors opening and closing on their own, electrical disturbances, light anomalies, phantom smells and time slips.
FAIRMONT HOTEL MACDONALD
10065 100 Street NW
Status: Historic 4 Star Hotel
By
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History
Prior to the construction of the hotel this land was a huge squatters camp known as Galician Hotel named for the number of people from the Galicia Province of the Astro-Hungarian Empire who lived there.
The now defunct Grand Trunk Pacific Railway bought the land for a new hotel in 1911. The hotel was completed at a cost of $2.25 million ($51 million in 2022 dollars) and opened to the public on July 15, 1915. It was named after Canada’s first Prime Minister, Sir John A MacDonald.
In 1919 when the Grand Trunk went bankrupt the hotel became the property of the Canadian National Hotels a division of the Canadian National Railway.
When Prohibition was repealed in 1924 in the Province of Alberta this hotel was one of the first two businesses granted a new liquor license.
King George VI and the Queen Mother stayed here in 1939 during their Royal Tour of Canada.
In 1949 the Canadian National Railway added a new section containing 292 rooms to keep up with the post-war tourism explosion.
In 1988 all Canadian National Hotels were sold to Canadian Pacific Hotels. Canadian Pacific spent $28 million and 3 years completely renovating the hotel and restoring the original façade.
In 2001 Canadian Pacific Hotels – now separated from the railway – changed their name to Fairmont thus changing the hotel’s name.
Paranormal Activity
The most famous ghost of this hotel – and most often experienced - is not human but rather a horse.
The story goes that when the foundation for the hotel was being laid one of the horses bringing the concrete fell over dead from exhaustion. The phantom sounds of his hooves are now heard both on the 8th floor and in the basement; the horse is never seen though.
In one of the executive suites the ghost of a man sits in a wing chair and smokes a pipe. He is thought to be the ghost of a river sailor who used to sail up and down the North Saskatchewan River trading furs.
The night managers often get calls from rooms on the 6th floor only to find out they’re empty.
A room also on the 6th floor was found empty and locked. When maintenance finally got in, they found the room had been dead bolted from the inside.
Two employees working the switchboard found they were enjoying the radio playing songs from the 1950’s. When neither of them remembered turning on the radio they checked it and found it was not on at all. During the 1950’s the CBC Radio did broadcast from the building as it was one of the highest in the city.