In 1894, Wilfred Grenfell, medical missionary, founded a cottage hospital there, staffed by two doctors and two nurses.

They provided medical services to the Newfoundland fishing fleets as well as the local population.

In the fall they sailed 150 miles west to Mud Lake and established a medical outpost in an abandoned lumber camp, returning to Indian Harbour in the spring.

In 1915 they established a hospital at North West River and began a seasonal migration that lasted 20 years.

[2] In the late 1920s and early 30s, Australian nurse Kate Merrick worked at the Grenfell Mission.