Subseries 03 - Hospitals

• Textual record

9 cm of textual records

This subseries contains material concerning the hospitals formerly administered by the Sisters in Ontario, as well as their new administration under Chatham Health Alliance and St. Joseph’s Health Care Society. In 1994 the congregation transferred sponsorship of the hospitals in London, Sarnia, and Chatham to St. Joseph’s Heath Care Society which formed that same year. Under the St. Joseph’s Health Care Society, the health care facilities were operated by St. Joseph’s Health Services Association of London, St. Joseph’s Health Services Association of Sarnia, and St. Joseph’s Health Services Association of Chatham. The intent of this transfer was that the hospitals would continue to operate as Catholic health care institutions. The material in this subseries is concerned with the operation and transfer of these hospitals and the incorporation of St. Joseph’s Health Care Society.

The London material concerns St. Joseph’s Hospital, St. Mary’s Hospital, and St. Joseph’s Hospice. The Sisters opened St. Joseph’s Hospital at 268 Grosvenor Street on October 15, 1888, and St. Mary’s Hospital on May 1, 1951. On July 6, 1993, St. Joseph’s Health Care Society was formed. The hospital became St. Joseph’s Health Centre in 1993, and integrated Parkwood Hospital in 1997 and the London/St. Thomas Psychiatric Hospitals in 2001, becoming St. Joseph’s Health Care London. In 1997, St. Mary’s Hospital consulted the Sisters about possible renovations to the Catholic chapel. In 2012 St. Joseph’s Health Care Society and Hospice of London partnered to create St. Joseph’s-Hospice of London which is independent from the congregation but rents space from the Sisters at their residence at 485 Windermere Road in London.

The Sarnia material concerns St. Joseph’s Health Centre and St. Joseph’s Hospice Resource Centre. In 1942 the City Council of Sarnia approached the Sisters to build a hospital, and St. Joseph’s Hospital opened October 18, 1946, at 290 North Russell Street. St. Joseph’s Hospital was officially re-opened as St. Joseph’s Health Centre on October 12, 1990. In January 1995, the Sisters donated their residence at 430 London Road to St. Joseph Health Centre to be used as a hospice. On January 29, 1998, the St. Joseph’s Health Centre joined in partnership with the Charlotte Eleanor Englehart Hospital and the Sarnia General Hospital by signing the Strategic Alliance Agreement. In April 2003, ownership of St. Joseph’s Health Centre was given to the Lambton County Hospital Group.

The Chatham material concerns St. Joseph’s Hospital. The Sisters opened St. Joseph’s Hospital on Centre Street in Chatham on October 15, 1890. In 1994 the Sisters transferred the St. Joseph’s Hospital Chatham Chapel Fund to the hospital for the renovation and upkeep of the onsite Catholic chapel and in 1999 the chapel committee was formed to plan a new chapel. In 1992, the Sisters withdrew from residence at the hospital, and in 1993 the ownership of the hospital was changed over to the St. Joseph’s Health Care Society. The hospital is now Riverview Gardens, a long-term care facility.

This subseries features correspondence, reports, histories, strategic plans, memorandums, meeting minutes, financial records, legal documents, newsletters, and news clippings.

Notable material includes Lambton County Hospitals’ 1996 response to the Lambton County Health Services Restructuring Report, the Trust Agreement between St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation of Chatham and the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Diocese of London Ontario from 1994, incorporation documents of St. Joseph’s Health Care Society, correspondence and meeting minutes concerning the chapels at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chatham and St. Mary’s Hospital in London, and annual reports of the St. Joseph Health Care Society for 1994-1995, 2003-2005, and 2009-2012 that give information on funding, future plans, board of directors, and the health leadership program. There are also articles, correspondence, and booklets concerning the Catholic identity and the sponsorship of Catholic health care organizations in Ontario and Alberta.