Inaugurated 21 January 1936. Annex to Hospital São José. Founded by Dr Raul di Primio, who was aided by a group of “damas de caridade” [ladies of charity] directed by a lady named Luizinha Aranha.
(Araujo, H C S. ‘A lepra e as organizações anti-leprosas do Brasil em 1936’. Mem. Inst. Osw. Cruz, 1937:32 (1) 153)
Preparatory work for the building of the leprosarium was carried out in 1934 by Maia Faillace from the Sociedade Rio-Grandense de Assistência aos Lázaros in 1934. The Hospital de Emergência consisted of five wooden buildings and operated until 1940, when it was substituted by the Hospital-Colônia de Itapuã.
(Velloso, A P & Andrade, V. Hanseníase – Curar para Eliminar. Edição das Autoras, Porto Alegre, 2002, Chapter 6, 68).