In May 1931, the Leprosy Inspector, Souza-Araújo, acquired the Sanatorio Espirita do Gopoúva and installed the Sanatorio Padre Bento, to shelter leprosy sufferers who were begging alms in the city of São Paulo. The Sanatorio was inaugurated on 5 June 1931, with eighty-three patients from the district of Guapira. It provided training, both administrative and technical, to doctors of the Leprosy Inspectorate, potential leprosaria directors.

The initial capacity was for 180 beds. At the time of writing, Souza-Araújo described it as the best leprosy sanatorium existing in Brazil. The number of patients increased considerably, and in 1936 they numbered 497.
(Araujo, H C S. 'A lepra e as organizações anti-leprosas do Brasil em 1936'. Mem. Inst. Osw Cruz, 1937:32, 145-6)