jermalism: Abandonment Issues: St. Joseph's Hospital (Parry Sound)

In 1995, St. Joseph's Hospital, which provided chronic care, merged with The Parry Sound District Hospital, which provided acute care.

“Parry Sound was the first community directed to build a new hospital by the province’s Health Services Restructuring Commission,” says Norman Maciver, chief executive officer of The West Parry Sound Health Centre. The new West Parry Sound Health Centre opened in 2005, at which time St. Joseph's hospital was closed and has sat vacant ever since.

St. Joseph's Hospital was originally a three story wooden house built in the 1890s. As of this moment, I have yet to ascertain the date that it opened as a hospital. The 4 storey South Wing was added in 1938 and the 2 storey East Wing was added in 1951. Both additions were made of concrete and steel.

On a beautiful September morning in 2011, Ninja and I awoke at our campsite, fried up a quick breakfast and began our pilgrimage to the old hospital. Thankfully, we found a way in, where we stumbled into pitch blackness, unfortunately though, we had forgotten our flashlights at the campsite.

After a quick drive to the hardware store, we were finally ready to explore the second St. Joseph's Hospital of the year, the other of course, in Peterborough. The entire first floor was tightly boarded up, and our entry point led us into pitch blackness yet again, this time though, our flashlights lit the way...straight into the morgue.

This hospital had several features that excited us from an urban exploration and photography perspective: Decay, peeling paint, leftover equipment, signs, colourful wallpaper and curtains, and interesting lighting.

In my last post, we delved deep into the lives of the Down family, and became entrenched. We connected emotionally with the love, the trials and tribulations, and the overall story of who they were, as it was told to us by the belongings that they left behind many decades ago.

While exploring this hospital, albeit void of these same personal items, we felt a similar connection to the people that once passed through and occupied these rooms. We tried to picture it up and running, bustling with energy and activity. We envisioned doctors and nurses walking the halls, family members visiting at bedsides, and patients re-learning to walk on the parallel bars in the rehabilitation unit. We were constantly cognizant of the lives that would inevitably have been lost here, but also the success stories and hope that would have been present.

With no further adieu, to the theme of chronic illnesses, I hope you enjoy our photos of the former St. Joseph's Hospital in Parry Sound.

Huntington's Disease