{"id":7392,"date":"2026-05-21T06:00:02","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T10:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alexluyckx.com\/blog\/?p=7392"},"modified":"2025-10-20T14:51:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T18:51:15","slug":"between-darkness-light-st-josephs-hospital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.alexluyckx.com\/blog\/2026\/05\/21\/between-darkness-light-st-josephs-hospital\/","title":{"rendered":"Between Darkness &#038; Light | St. Joseph&#8217;s Hospital"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Abandoned hospitals in Ontario were few and far between, especially in my part of the province. While many hospitals were still expanding or constructing new buildings, these were often on active properties with lots of security. But when word got out of a fresh location, and by fresh, it had only closed three years before my getting in, you tend to jump on any chance you got. In an interesting turn of events, I ended up exploring the hospital where my father was born, both cool and weird at the same time.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/axle81401\/5404406990\/in\/album-72157625819753851\" title=\"home\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/5219\/5404406990_52f9942a29_b.jpg\" width=\"1024\" height=\"680\" alt=\"home\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>Nikon D300 &#8211; AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm 1:2.8G<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While our modern healthcare system in Ontario is not without its faults, it certainly is a lot better than healthcare in the 19th Century. Healthcare back then was weird, especially with institutional healthcare. No umbrella organisation, social medicine, or church were far more involved than having a rotating chaplain for spiritual welfare. Peterborough&#8217;s first hospital opened in 1885 with the purchase of an old house and a sizable donation from Charlotte Nicholls. The problem with the hospital is that it only served Protestants. Seeing this gap, Bishop Dowelling began the process of raising funds and purchasing land for the establishment of a Catholic hospital. After the St Leonard&#8217;s Grove property was acquired, architect John Belcher was retained to design the new hospital. Construction began in 1888, and by 1890, the new hospital was ready to open, Bishop RA O&#8217;Connor petitioned the Sisters of St Joseph to send a group of nuns to operate the hospital and establish a congregation in the town from Toronto. Twenty sisters arrived in August that year, and the hospital was concentrated. Bishop O&#8217;Connor stated that the hospital would serve all, regardless of race, creed, or economic status. Records show that David Quinn was the first admitted patient; within a year of operation, the hospital had served ninety-four patients. Demand for the hospital grew and only grew after Peterborough was incorporated as a city in 1894. In 1905, the initial cost of the hospital had been paid off, and the church began to look to build a new expansion; again, John Belcher would design a new three-storey building along with a nursing school which opened in 1906. The new building would house additional patient beds, several operating rooms and additional rooms for the Sisters and students. A new laundry building was also completed at this time. St. Joseph&#8217;s installed their first X-ray machine in 1913 and a clinical laboratory shortly after; the hospital would play a key role in the emergency response to the 1916 Quaker Oats explosion and treated many of the burn victims as the hospital was the closest to the factory. It also played a role in the treatment of the 1918\u20131920 Great Influenza Pandemic, with many of the Sisters who helped those who contracted the virus contracting it themselves. Both events highlighted the need for additional space at St. Joseph&#8217;s, and in 1921, a new five-storey building began construction and opened a year later, which increased the number of patient beds and added dedicated spaces for the clinical laboratory and radiology departments. Lessons learned during the Second World War saw massive renovations and a new building at St. Joseph starting in 1947. Existing buildings were renovated and upgraded, and two new buildings were completed in the 1950s and again in the 1960s. By the time all the projects were completed, St. Joseph&#8217;s had a capacity of 224 beds. They had full accreditation from the Ontario government, but the work also saw the demolition of the original 1890 building in 1969. But changes were coming; nursing education was reorganised into the College system, and the school closed in 1973, and plans were put in motion to merge and spread out services across the Civic Hospital (The Civic was the continuation of the first hospital) and St. Joseph&#8217;s. These changes started to roll out through the 1980s; under the Mike Harris government, regional health centres were starting to be created, and both St. Joseph&#8217;s and the Civic Hospital were merged into a single organisation, and the Roman Catholic Church dropped any formal control and involvement with the operations at St. Joseph&#8217;s. Construction of a new single Peterborough Regional Health Centre building was started in 2004 on the Civic Hospital property, and operations at St. Joseph ceased in 2008, with the new building officially opening in 2009 and the old Civic Hospital building demolished. The TVM group purchased the old St. Joseph&#8217;s Hospital. It began renovating the different buildings into condominiums and apartment units, with most of the work starting in 2012. Today, you can still see many of the historic elements of the hospital present on the surviving buildings, although I haven&#8217;t been past there since I went in 2011.<\/p>\n<p><figure style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/axle81401\/5403792625\/in\/album-72157625819753851\" title=\"the light\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/5294\/5403792625_e9234fb520_b.jpg\" width=\"1024\" height=\"680\" alt=\"the light\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>Nikon D300 &#8211; AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm 1:2.8G<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/axle81401\/5404395138\/in\/album-72157625819753851\" title=\"common\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/5055\/5404395138_4452ef7572_b.jpg\" width=\"1024\" height=\"680\" alt=\"common\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>Nikon D300 &#8211; AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm 1:2.8G<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/axle81401\/5403793279\/in\/album-72157625819753851\" title=\"just some lab work\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/5293\/5403793279_60a627e8e8_b.jpg\" width=\"1024\" height=\"680\" alt=\"just some lab work\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>Nikon D300 &#8211; AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm 1:2.8G<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/axle81401\/5403793635\/in\/album-72157625819753851\" title=\"disused\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/5212\/5403793635_e59dfd3800_b.jpg\" width=\"1024\" height=\"680\" alt=\"disused\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>Nikon D300 &#8211; AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm 1:2.8G<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/axle81401\/5404396770\/in\/album-72157625819753851\" title=\"gas\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/5258\/5404396770_030f99dcc7_b.jpg\" width=\"1024\" height=\"954\" alt=\"gas\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>Nikon D300 &#8211; AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm 1:2.8G<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n<p>When it came to exploring in Ontario, a freshly closed hospital that was almost entirely free of vandalism and still had a lot of equipment inside was jumped on quickly because these were rare. While these sorts of locations did increase over the next several years, St. Joseph&#8217;s in Peterborough drew me in quickly when I was tipped off to the location by a friend in the area. I took a solo trip in the winter of 2011 on a Sunday afternoon to ensure the area was quiet and I could explore almost in peace. I had stopped for lunch at Harvey&#8217;s along Highway 115\/35. I hit the spot on the Trent-Severin Waterway before finding a parking spot several blocks away and walking towards the location. Exploring in the snow is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing in the sense that you can follow in the footsteps of getting inside, but if there are security or nosey neighbours, they can also know that someone is potentially inside. Then it hit me, my lunch returned to haunt me, and I had to find a spot inside to relieve myself; thankfully, I saw something complete with toilet paper (again, a rarity for an abandoned building). Once my stomach had settled, I started to explore the location. The hospital was huge, and I had it pretty much to myself. I never got scared or paranoid, but I got turned around several times. It was close to the end of my trip when I ran into another couple of explorers on my way out; after exchanging pleasantries, I headed out. I could have spent a lot more time there to be able to check out more of the other buildings, I&#8217;m not even sure how many of hte wings I actually checked out. However, I was on a mission and still had a couple of spots to stop at before heading home before it got too dark. While some explorers are in it for the thrill of the potential of getting caught, I never was that sort of adrenaline junkie; I much preferred a healthy level of paranoia and an easy, safe exploration. There was a level of risk of being in the spot solo. I also notified the friend who tipped me off to the location where I was in town if I needed a quick escape or assistance. <\/p>\n<p><figure style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/axle81401\/5403795009\/in\/album-72157625819753851\" title=\"wards\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/5093\/5403795009_0e0b38c169_b.jpg\" width=\"1024\" height=\"680\" alt=\"wards\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>Nikon D300 &#8211; AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm 1:2.8G<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/axle81401\/5404397566\/in\/album-72157625819753851\" title=\"foyer\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/5011\/5404397566_e3049b5ae5_b.jpg\" width=\"1024\" height=\"680\" alt=\"foyer\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>Nikon D300 &#8211; AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm 1:2.8G<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/axle81401\/5403795901\/in\/album-72157625819753851\" title=\"storage chapel\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/5053\/5403795901_df664d9534_b.jpg\" width=\"1024\" height=\"680\" alt=\"storage chapel\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>Nikon D300 &#8211; AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm 1:2.8G<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/axle81401\/5403798111\/in\/album-72157625819753851\" title=\"delicious\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/5132\/5403798111_1c64b41d0c_b.jpg\" width=\"1024\" height=\"680\" alt=\"delicious\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>Nikon D300 &#8211; AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm 1:2.8G<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/axle81401\/5403797655\/in\/album-72157625819753851\" title=\"leftovers\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/5092\/5403797655_607176d89d_b.jpg\" width=\"1024\" height=\"680\" alt=\"leftovers\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>Nikon D300 &#8211; AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm 1:2.8G<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n<p>What helped a lot with my photography here is that I went solo and was comfortable with the location despite being a riskier trip. Visiting during the day and on a Sunday, where the chance of getting caught was slim (but not zero), allowed me to enter the zone. I mainly worked with my 14-24mm lens, using a lot of flat and leading line compositions that became my bread-and-butter of exploration photography. Also, my editing style is pretty clean here, with few presets other than black-and-white conversions. The one thing I did have a piece of mind to do was bring along the 50mm lens and get some detail shots before leaving. I wish I had packed along a medium format camera like the Pentax 645 and a couple of black &#038; white film rolls.<\/p>\n<p><figure style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/axle81401\/5404402048\/in\/album-72157625819753851\" title=\"don&#x27;t worry, I did.\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/5175\/5404402048_5e4c8a9147_b.jpg\" width=\"1024\" height=\"680\" alt=\"don&#x27;t worry, I did.\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>Nikon D300 &#8211; AF Nikkor 50mm 1:1.4D<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/axle81401\/5403800161\/in\/album-72157625819753851\" title=\"exam\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/5095\/5403800161_c585211e59_b.jpg\" width=\"1024\" height=\"680\" alt=\"exam\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>Nikon D300 &#8211; AF Nikkor 50mm 1:1.4D<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/axle81401\/5403800853\/in\/album-72157625819753851\" title=\"x-ray?\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/5092\/5403800853_e2981892f1_b.jpg\" width=\"1024\" height=\"680\" alt=\"x-ray?\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>Nikon D300 &#8211; AF Nikkor 50mm 1:1.4D<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/axle81401\/5404403616\/in\/album-72157625819753851\" title=\"GE\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/5174\/5404403616_9f9989f729_b.jpg\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" alt=\"GE\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>Nikon D300 &#8211; AF Nikkor 50mm 1:1.4D<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/axle81401\/5403802599\/in\/album-72157625819753851\" title=\"lets see here\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/5217\/5403802599_f34845684a_b.jpg\" width=\"1024\" height=\"680\" alt=\"lets see here\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>Nikon D300 &#8211; AF Nikkor 50mm 1:1.4D<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n<p>The next time I&#8217;m passing through Peterborough, I should make a point to check out the former St. Joseph&#8217;s; there&#8217;s the Catholic Church nearby that was also started around when the hospital first opened. As I said, hospitals, especially abandoned ones, were rare in Ontario. St. Joseph&#8217;s is only one of three hospitals that I ever checked out while exploring and only one of two public hospitals, but I was the one with the most left behind. I do wish I had the chance to make another visit. Construction moved quickly, as did the popularity; word soon got out, and security was beefed up. While I&#8217;m saddened that the original 1890 building is long gone, it still exists in pictorial form, but the buildings have moved on to a second life as homes rather than a pile of rubble and an empty lot. You can check out all my <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/axle81401\/albums\/72157625819753851\/with\/5404399578\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">photos over on Flickr<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Abandoned hospitals in Ontario were few and far between, especially in my part of the province. While many hospitals were still expanding or constructing new buildings, these were often on active properties with lots of security. But when word got out of a fresh location, and by fresh, it had only closed three years before my getting in, you tend to jump on any chance you got. In an interesting turn of events, I ended up exploring the hospital where my father was born, both cool and weird at the same time. While our modern healthcare system in Ontario is not without its faults, it<a class=\"more-link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.alexluyckx.com\/blog\/2026\/05\/21\/between-darkness-light-st-josephs-hospital\/\"><span>Read More &rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1664],"tags":[22,107,665,600,29,350,1721,610,24],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.alexluyckx.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7392"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.alexluyckx.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.alexluyckx.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.alexluyckx.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.alexluyckx.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7392"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.alexluyckx.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7392\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7422,"href":"http:\/\/www.alexluyckx.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7392\/revisions\/7422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.alexluyckx.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.alexluyckx.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.alexluyckx.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}