History

1888: Establishment of the Faculty of Medicine at Saint Joseph University, following an agreement signed between the French government and the Jesuit Fathers. However, the Faculty needed a teaching hospital.

1911: Under the direction of Reverend Father Lucien Catin, S.J., and with the initiative of Le Temps newspaper, the Parisian Press Syndicate launches a subscription in France to build the hospital on land purchased by the French government.

1914-1918: The First World War breaks out, and construction projects are immediately halted.

1922: General Gouraud lays the first stone, and construction work begins.

1923: General Weygand, his successor, inaugurates Hôtel-Dieu de France, and the hospital opens its doors, admitting its first patient.

1965: An agreement between the hospital and the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Hearts is signed, delegating them with the nursing administration mission.

1984: The French government transfers the direct management of HDF to Saint Joseph University through a renewable 50-year lease. Reverend Father Jean Ducruet, S.J., endows the hospital with its statutes.

2001: Inauguration of the new hospital building and numerous departments.

2005: Inauguration of the Private Clinics Tower.

2010: Under the leadership of Reverend Father Rene Chamussy, S.J., Rector of Saint Joseph University, the hospital adopts a new governance system to meet the challenges of an ever-evolving healthcare world. The HDF 2020 decennial project is put in place.

1975-1990: During the Lebanese Civil War, the hospital continued to provide care to thousands of wounded, never failing in its mission.