20 | HAUNTED: The Charles Camsell Hospital

Explore the chilling history of Edmonton's Charles Camsell Indian Hospital, a once-prominent medical institution now steeped in eerie legends and ghostly encounters. In this episode, we uncover real testimonies from former patients and staff, uncovering tales of apparitions, mysterious voices, and unexplained disturbances that haunt its abandoned halls. Join us as we navigate the dark legacy of this notorious hospital, confronting the lingering specters of Canada's past and the enduring trauma left in the indigenous community in its wake. Enter if you dare, but beware – some secrets are best left undisturbed.

And remember, the unknown is always just beyond the shadows...

Subscribe and visit beyondtheunknownpod.com for more details and show notes. Share your own encounters at moody.mediaprod@gmail.com to be featured in an upcoming episode.

Transcript

[INTRODUCTION]

Welcome listeners to another spine-chilling episode of Beyond the Unknown. I'm your host, Joli, and I’m Quinn, and today, we are taking you on a gut wrenching journey to learn about the horrors that took place at one of Canada’s largest so called “Indian hospitals”. Although it is now closed, this hospital witnessed a very dark history and is known as one of Canada’s most haunted locations.

[BODY]

The story of the building which later housed the Charles Camsell hospital goes all the way back to 1913. In the Inglewood area of Edmonton Alberta, a Jesuit college for boys was built at this location. In 1942 the college was then used by the American Army as a center for those working on the Alaska highway construction. Once this project was completed in 1944, the property was bought by the Canadian Federal Government. The Charles Camden hospital was then opened here in 1946. This is the most northern major city of the Canadian provinces with a current population of approximately 4 million. The intended use of this multi storey building with hundreds of patient rooms was as a tuberculosis sanitorium for Indigenous patients from Western and Northern Canada. These regions include BC, AB, Saskatchewan and the NWT. There was also a surgical ward on the second floor and a psychiatric ward on the fourth floor. And from 1946-1967, this was the largest “Indian” hospital in all of Canada. Patients for the hospital were “found” by TB screening programs or X-ray tours by truck, ship or plane. Once discovered they would be forcibly taken to the sanitorium for medical treatment. But what actually happened here is rumoured to have been very sinister. This is a very dark period in our Canadian history of segregated health care, speaks to the bigger monstrous picture of colonialism.

Eventually, the purpose of the hospital changes from being focused on TB treatment, to moe of an “experimental” hospital run by the United Church and the Department of Indian Affairs. There are stories from victims and survivors of having undergone experimental surgeries, murders and physical/sexual abuse. One account I could find of experimental surgery involved tonsillectomies and some sort of procedure involving the ears. Those who have had the ear procedures were left with permanent hearing impairment. There are also reported incidents of sexual assault committed against patients by those they trusted – Doctors, interns and other medical staff. Children born to mothers at this hospital were also taken forcibly without permission, this was part of an even broader forcible removal of children from Indigenous parents in what is now known as the 60s scoop. Some mothers were even told that their babies had died, one story being about a set of twins who were given away but mom was told they died following childbirth. That leads to the next terrible thing that occurred to mother’s who delivered via C-section…. forced sterilization. Often, mothers who had given birth here, were never able to conceive again – not understanding why. Doctors and nurses told them they should nto have more children as they “had their hands full” with their current child/children. It is suspected these women underwent illegal forced/coerced sterilization. There are also reports of forced shock treatments and confinement/isolation in the psychiatric ward. Finally, it was suspected that there was a mass grave of aboriginal children on the South side of the building in the “staff garden” area. Another allegation is in regards to “nutrition” experiments, whereby certain nutrients/vitamins were deprived by means of evaluating the consequences. Another horrible story is of children being put in full body casts for discipline.

There are however also reports by Indigenous patients who felt that nothing unusual happened there, that although there were some instances of abuse towards other patients, that they generally didn’t feel they were personally mistreated. There is also further research coming out about the effects of birth trauma on the reproductive system, and although there is absolutely without a doubt a history of forced/coerced sterilization of marginalized groups of colour, poverty or disability, it is believed some instances of sterility were not due to ill-willed physicians and nurses. There are also stories of the nurses trying to cheer up Indigenous children by taking them to the zoos and for other fun tours, often remembering being given gifts of “thanks” from Indigenous families. In 2021, the city of Edmonton conducted extensive serach of the property for the suspected unmarked graves. Ground penetrating radar technology uncovered suspicious findings, but when a formal dig took place, no human remains were found. So perhaps not everything was entirely malicious, but I do firmly believe that the horrific things that occurred here seem to be the majority rather than the minority, even if it did not to occur to each and every patient.

I think only those who were there know the truth, and we can only hope to continue to hear their stories and document what we can.

To this day however, and beyond this hospital, Indigenous patients are still facing discrimination and seggregated treatment in a colonial system. BEAD STORY, JORDANS PRINCIPLE

Jordan's Principle was established by First Nations in response to the death of five-year-old Jordan River Anderson, a child from Norway House Cree Nation who suffered from Carey Fineman Ziter syndrome, a rare muscular disorder that required years of medical treatment in a Winnipeg hospital. After spending the first two years of his life in a hospital, doctors cleared Jordan to live in a family home near the hospital in Winnipeg. However, the federal and provincial governments could not resolve who was financially responsible for the necessary home care. For over two years, the Government of Canada and Manitoba provincial government continued to argue while Jordan remained in the hospital. In 2005, at the age of five, Jordan died in the hospital; he never had the opportunity to live in a family home.

Back to the Camsell hospital though. In 1968 the building was torn down due to asbestos and other issue, and replaced with a provincially-run general hospital. There was a movie called “White Coats” in 2004 that was filmed at this hospital. Apparently, the Mackenzie brothers and Dave Foley were in it. In 1996, the facility was shut down altogether and there have been rumours of hauntings ever since – sometimes being called one of Edmonton’s most haunted sites.

Before this building was torn down in 2021, many paranormal investigation teams, and every day people explored the site and experienced some very eerie encounters proof of the paranormal activity and unsettled spirits on the property. There are reports of the elevator to the morgue operating independently. There are reports, and recording by the investigative team of Jeff Belanger, of screams and voices. Footsteps were even heard overhead despite there being 3ft of concrete overhead in the ceilings separating each floor. A group called the Paranormal Explorers visited this site, and everyone involved in the investigation became sick or had bad nightmares. Specific spirits found here involve many Indigenous peoples, specifically a female from the psych ward calling for her parents to pick her up and scratching her arms. I’ve read stories of a group of teens trying to quickly check out the seen quietly before getting kicked out by security and hearing faint giggles running through the halls that were not coming their group. One of the teens started running away from the group, and his brother chased after him. The brother grabbed the teens hoodie to stop him as it looked like he was about to run into another person. When the teen shook his brother off and asked him what he was doing, they realized there was no one there, BUT a couple steps in front of him, there was a massive hole which would have lead this teen undoubtedly to his death. They examined the hole and heard further giggling. It is felt that the spirit of the giggling child saved this teens life. They swear they saw briefly the figure of a little girl before immediately disappearing. There is also supposedly video recordings of a girl singing “Go back, all the way back” but I can’t seem to find these tapes. The general vibes from those with expertise in the paranormal world feel that the spirits here were very unsettled and that the activity was full of hatred and darkness.

[Transition Music]

Joli: Thank you for joining us for another episode of "Beyond the Unknown." If you have a story you’d like to share, please email us at moody.mediaprod@gmail.com. You can reach out on our website, and who knows, your story might be featured in our next episode.

Quinn: All of our sources for this episode can be found on our website: beyondtheunknownpod.com.

And don’t forget, if you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review.

Joli: Until next time, listeners. Stay curious and remember that the unknown is always just beyond the shadows.

Both: BYEEEE