St Joseph~s Hospital(London )

Description

St Josephs Health Centre Parkwood Hospital and the LondonSt Thomas Psychiatric Hospital have joined together to create a new health care organization to serve the residents of London and Southwestern Ontario and the Veterans of Canada We are owned by the St Josephs Health Care Society of the Roman Catholic Diocese of London and governed by a volunteer board of
directors representing the community Our services are publicly funded

We are a major teaching and research centre affiliated with the University of Western Ontario and Fanshawe College

What We Do Mission

We help people to maintain and improve their health and work with them to minimize the effects of injury disease and disability

We do this by pursuing excellence in care research and education in a wide range of hospital clinic long term and communitybased settings

We work with our partners to create a better health care system

What Well Be Vision

A respected source of excellent health service guided by the people we serve provided by people who care

How We Serve Values

Inspired by the care creativity and compassion of our founders the Sisters of St Joseph the Womens Christian Association and the London Psychiatric Hospital and St Thomas Psychiatric Hospital we serve with

Respect

Honour the people we serve
Appreciate the work of others
Welcome the contributions of all
Celebrate diversity
Be truthful honest and open

Excellence

Give our best each day
Be creative and resourceful with
our gifts skills and talents
Build on our proud past
Work as a team to seek the new
undiscovered
Make a difference

Compassion

Be with others
Understand their needs realities
and hopes
Give from the heart
Sustain the spirit

History

In 1868 the Sisters of St Joseph came to London and were commissioned by the Bishop and the Diocese of London to visit the sick and the poor teach the young and open an orphanage which was to be called Mount Hope

From its foundation in October 1869 Mount Hope was much more that an orphanage It was a quotrefuge and comfortable home for the sick the infirm the destitute and the forsakenquot including both children and homeless elderly people

Upon encouragement from the government and community in 1888 the Sisters decided to open a hospital On October 151888 St Josephs Hospital was officially opened initially with 10 beds and space to accommodate 24 patients in total The staff consisted of three Sisters and four doctors

It was out of this humble beginning and the mission of the Sisters that St Josephs Hospital and all its affiliated services grew Indeed the hospital continues to provide the type of care that was initiated and nurtured by the Sisters in the tradition of faith and caring Today St Josephs retains its close affiliation with the Sisters and the Catholic Church through its owner St Josephs Health Care Society of London

The Early Years 1888 to the 1920s

1888 St Josephs Hospital was established

From the founding of Mount Hope in 1869 the Sisters fought tirelessly to provide a safe refuge caring for the sick poor and otherwise helpless in the community The community and the government were impressed with the compassion and efficiency of the Sisters in running Mount Hope and encouraged them to undertake hospital work

The Sisters purchased a house on the northeast corner of Richmond and Grosvenor Streets and the long history of St Josephs remarkable health care began

The hospital officially opened on October 15 1888 operated by three Sisters Mother Aloysia Nigh Superior Sister Martha Toohey and Sister Herman Murphy The first patient was admitted the following day The hospital had ten beds with room for 14 more which were to be tended to by four medical staff members Dr John Wishart Dr James Macarthur Dr William E Waugh and Dr William Woodruff

1892 A new hospital facility opened

Just four years after the hospital was founded a new facility opened its doors on October 15 1892 Built adjacent to the small house on the corner the new building was three and a half storeys with 60 beds and one operating room It remains today as the core of the west portion of the hospital

Early facts

the population of London in 1888 was 35000
average length of stay in St Josephs in 1892 was 34 days
average daily cost per patient was 2587 cents
the hospital admitted 339 patients in 1893
by 1902 the number of patients admitted rose to 573
the first recorded birth in St Joes was on October 5 1901

1901 St Josephs School of Nursing established
From the beginning of St Josephs Hospital nursing care was provided by the Sisters and the lay staff hired to assist them With the developments in medical science the need to train hospital workers in the care of the sick became very evident In 1901 St Josephs Hospital Training School for Nurses was formally established

1903 The first major expansion

A new threestorey addition to the hospital was built to the east expanding its capacity to 80 beds and nursing staff to 30 The official opening of the new wing was held on May 12 1903 and its additional space was certainly needed In the 19031904 fiscal year the hospital admitted 850 patients a substantial increase from the 532 patients admitted the previous year

1915 A new addition was completed

A threestorey wing with a basement was built adjoining the main building extending south along Richmond Street towards Grosvenor The Richmond wing provided 12 private rooms on each of the three levels as well as incorporating service rooms a library and lecture rooms for the nursing students A new chapel was built at the same time which remains today as a historical treasure on the second floor of the Richmond Street wing

1916 XRays were first used at St Josephs

With xray technology gradually being accepted as an accurate diagnostic tool St Josephs opened its first Department of Radiology

1922 Organization of the medical staff

Eight doctors were formally appointed to specific offices and specialties within the hospital including Surgery Gynaecology Medicine Obstetrics Anaesthesia Paediatrics and Ophthalmology

1927 Nurses Residence opened

A fourstorey structure was built at Richmond and Louisa now Cromwell Streets for the nursing school About 200 students lived in the building attending classes in the new wings lecture rooms and learning onthejob in the hospital attached The Nurses Residence remains today housing the quot900 Richmond Loungequot meeting rooms the Carr Hearing Centre Gastroenterology clinic and other services

1928 Outpatient department established

An outpatient department was established on the recommendation of the medical staff including Medical Surgical Paediatric Obstetrics Eye Ear Nose and Throat and Gynaecology Clinics A Physiotherapy Department for both inpatients and outpatients was also established at the time

Expansion and Growth 1930 to the 1950s

1931 East Wing addition

A threestorey wing similar to the 1915 addition was built to the east of the 1903 building It contained an additional 100 patient beds expanded operating room facilities a new laboratory and a new labour and delivery area A new kitchen and dining room area was built in the basement to accommodate the increase in staff This area remains today as the staff cafeteria and food services area

The 1930s and 1940s

The next two decades saw the further development of the excellence and expertise of the medical staff a substantial increase in the number of staff and of course a major increase in the number of patients being treated at the hospital St Joes had grown to become a major referral centre for Southwestern Ontario and in 1947 signed a formal agreement with the University of Western Ontario officially recognizing St Joes longstanding relationship with the university as a teaching hospital

1948 Diamond Jubilee St Joes 60th anniversary

By 1948 the hospital had expanded through five major additions and had grown to accommodate 300 patients About 330 staff members were employed at St Joes including 27 Sisters In 1951 an Advisory Board comprised of lay members of the community was set up to act in an advisory capacity to the administration of St Josephs a predecessor to todays Board of Directors

1954 Two new wings completed

By the early 1950s the population of the City of London had grown substantially led by the industrial development after World War II St Josephs had become not only a busy community hospital but a district hospital accepting referrals from physicians and smaller hospital centres as well as a regional hospital renowned for its expertise and accepting referrals from across the province Motivated by these factors St Josephs undertook the largest expansion of the hospitals long history building two new wings at the same time

The Marian Wing was built to the east of the East Wing addition of 1931 while an Administrative Wing was added midway between the East and West Wings The fivestorey Marian Wing included a new 36bed Psychiatric Department expanded maternity and nursery facilities a floor dedicated to surgical patients and living quarters for 22 Sisters It was partially remodelled in 1964 and is now an extension of the main hallway leading to the wing which runs along Wellington St

The Administrative Wing included space for the Emergency Department which had been established in 1951 clinic and teaching facilities for outpatients administrative facilities a central Admitting Department and more patient rooms The main visitors entrance off of Grosvenor Street now takes you through the Administrative Wing to the main part of the hospital The two new additions increased the bed capacity of St Josephs to 500 patients

The late 1950s

Additions and renovations continued over the next few years By converting the attic space a fourth floor was added to the main portion of the building in 1955 A NorthEast Wing was also added in 1956 extending east along Cromwell Street

Despite these expansion efforts by 1958 just four years after the hospitals largest expansion the hospital was operating over capacity and another expansion was needed In 1959 the St Josephs Hospital Building Fund Campaign began the first fundraising campaign the Sisters had ever undertaken to solicit financial support Due to a generous response from the community construction on the Wellington Wing which runs along Wellington Street and currently contains the Emergency Department began in 1962

Building a Modern Health Centre 19601985

1964 the Wellington Wing opened

The Wellington Wing along with an addition of the fourth and fifth floors extending over top of the East Wing expanded the hospitals patient capacity to 605 With the new wing came a new large Outpatient Department a new Emergency Department new surgical suite an intensive care unit and significantly enlarged Radiology and Psychiatry Departments

1967 St Josephs internationallyrenowned Neonatal Intensive Care Unit opened

1969 St Josephs Family Medical Centre opened

The Family Medical Centre provided services to thousands of people in the community over the years and continues to serve the community well It is also an outstanding teaching facility affiliated with the University of Western Ontarios highlyregarded Department of Family Medicine It was originally located at 362 Oxford Street East

1970 management of St Josephs School of Nursing was transferred to Fanshawe College in conjunction with similar transfers to community colleges across the province The school continued to operate on the St Josephs campus site

1971 Surgical Day Care Unit opened

With changing technology and medical advances surgery done on an outpatient basis had become widely accepted with the volume of patients consistently growing

1973 St Josephs Detoxification Centre opened

The aim of this centre originally located at 331 Dufferin Street and directed by Sister St Patrick Joyce was to quotkeep persons who were continually being arrested for drunkenness out of jailsquot by admitting them to rehabilitation centres It is now located at 471 William Street

1977 Nursing school closed

St Josephs nursing residence and campus operated by Fanshawe College closed ending a 76year tradition of excellence

1981 Grosvenor expansion

Placed between the East Wing now sections B and C of the hospital and Wellington Wing sections A and D the Grosvenor facility expansion provided room for a large Central Admitting Department Laboratory Test Centre and twenty new rooms for medical clinics A new Coronary Care Unit and enlarged Surgical Day Care Unit were also established with the expansion

1982 A Canadian first

Researchers at St Josephs were the first to show that nuclear magnetic imaging could distinguish diseased tissue from normal tissue In 1982 they were the first in Canada to achieve a human image using Magnetic Resonance Imaging MRI