The health care provided at the Hôtel-Dieu Saint-Joseph in Saint-Basile, the first hospital in Madawaska, got off to a slow start in 1873. The sick were admitted without distinction, and older people, renters and boarders stayed in houses near the convent owned by the Religious Hospitallers of Saint Joseph or at the Hôtel-Dieu.
In 1916, the patients and staff of the Hôtel-Dieu left the first wooden building to move into the brick building known as the Convent and fitted out to accommodate 60 patients and disabled persons.
In 1946, the Religious Hospitallers of Saint Joseph opened an Hôtel-Dieu in Edmundston, leading to the closure of the Saint-Basile hospital, which became a nursing home.
In 1961, the Regional Laboratory Department opened in Edmundston. In 1967, a four-bed intensive care unit was set up and the following year, the administration of the sanatorium in Saint-Basile merged with that of the Edmundston Regional Hospital under the name of pavillon of Saint-Basile.
The Emergency Department opened in 1969 in a new building. In 1970, the Psychosocial Clinic was moved to the Edmundston Regional Hospital. In 1972, the pavillon of Saint-Basile closed and the staff was transferred to the Edmundston Regional Hospital.
On June 23, 1991, the Edmundston Regional Hospital moved to 275 Hébert Boulevard.