St. Joseph's Hospital (London, Ont.)

• St. Joseph's Hospital, London
• St. Joseph's Hospital, London, Ontario

St. Joseph’s Hospital, London, Ontario is located on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak and Attawandaron peoples. This land is covered by various treaties including the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum and the London Township and Sombra Treaties of 1796. London currently neighbours the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation, the Oneida Nation of the Thames, and the Munsee-Delaware Nation.

St. Joseph’s Hospital was founded in London in 1888 after Dr. W. T. O’Reilly, the Inspector of Prisons and Public Charities, encouraged Mother Ignatia Campbell of the Sisters of St. Joseph to start a hospital. She assigned three Sisters to the task: Mother Aloysia Nigh, Sister Martha Toohey, and Sister Herman Murphy. The hospital was officially opened on October 15, 1888, at the Judge W. P. Street residence. They set up a small chapel within the house and appointed Dr. John Wishart, Dr. William E. Waugh, Dr. William Woodruff, and Dr. James Macarthur as medical staff for the ten-bed hospital.

In 1892, the hospital was expanded to a capacity of sixty beds through a new wing attached to the original building. The hospital now had nine Sisters as staff and began to hire outside help. More physicians also began to practice at the hospital, and further major additions were constructed in 1903, 1915, the Nurses’ Residence in 1927, 1931, 1954, 1964, and 1981.

The St. Joseph’s Hospital School of Nursing, established in 1901, provided training for nursing students and extra staff for the hospital. The program was three years long and granted a diploma in nursing. In 1976, the school was amalgamated by Fanshawe College, and they ceased operations at St. Joseph’s in 1977.

Throughout its history, St. Joseph’s Hospital has been host to many medical innovations and some firsts. The hospital’s first department of radiology, making use of X-rays, opened in 1916, and the medical staff was organized into official departments/specialties in 1922. In 1967, the neo-natal intensive care unit opened, followed by the Family Medical Centre in 1969. The Detoxification Centre, for patients suffering from alcoholism, opened in 1973. 1982 saw St. Joseph’s be the first hospital in Canada to capture a human image using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), and shortly afterwards in 1983 the Research Institute was established (renamed the Lawson Health Research Institute in 1987). In 1985, St. Joseph’s Hospital became St. Joseph’s Health Centre when it amalgamated with Marian Villa and St. Mary’s Hospital, and in 1997 Parkwood Hospital joined as well. The London and St. Thomas Psychiatric Hospitals joined as well in 2001, and St. Joseph’s changed its name once more to St. Joseph’s Health Care London.

The role of the Sisters of St. Joseph in the hospital has changed over the years, from its founding in 1888. With the retirement of Sister Mary Doyle as executive director in the hospital’s hundredth year, 1988, the role of executive director began to be filled by laypeople. In 1993, the Sisters decided to step back from direct administration of the hospital and formed the St. Joseph’s Health Care Society to provide for its leadership. As of 2025, there are still Sisters actively involved in the Society.

London, Ontario

Health Care

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City of London. “City of London Land Acknowledgement.” Accessed May 8, 2025. https://london.ca/city-london-land-acknowledgement.

Stephen, R. A. and L. M. Smith. "St. Joseph’s Hospital 1888-1988: faith and caring." London, Ontario: St. Joseph’s Health Centre of London Ontario, 1988.

St. Joseph’s Health Care, London. “Our History.” Accessed May 8, 2025. https://www.sjhc.london.on.ca/about-us/about-st-josephs-health-care-london/our-history.

St. Joseph’s Health Care, London. “Leadership Team.” Accessed May 8, 2025. https://www.sjhc.london.on.ca/about-us/about-st-josephs-health-care-london/leadership-team.