A new book on the history of the Sisters of St. Ann in BC devotes a chapter to Nelson's Mount St. Francis. Darlene Southwell’s Caring and Compassion traces the Catholic congregation's beginnings in Quebec in the 1850s through the opening of the Nelson extended care hospital a century later.
The Mount was first envisioned in 1946 as a home for old men, Southwell writes. The diocese bought the 37-acre McKim estate, hired an architect, and collected donations. However, when construction bids came in overbudget, the project was retooled as an infirmary.
Mount St. Francis opened on July 5, 1950. It became a public institution in 1966, amalgamated with the local health council in 1997, and closed when the Mountain Lake facility opened nearby.