From August to October, I had the pleasure of working with Mary Grace Kosta, Congregational Archivist, and Noelle Tangredi, eLearning Developer/Graphic Designer and caretaker of the St. Joseph’s Health Care Medical Artifacts Collection, to create an exhibit highlighting Mother Ignatia Campbell and the Sisters of St. Joseph’s first endeavours in healthcare in London. I had previously assisted with in-house exhibits and a traveling exhibit, so I was excited to put my newly learned skills to work.
In 1971, a group of citizens in London met to discuss setting up a detoxification clinic. Sr. Mary Doyle, of the Sisters of St. Joseph, chaired the group which included representatives from hospitals, social service agencies, the Addiction Research Foundation, the police, the Salvation Army, and Mission Services.
This year marks one hundred years since the Sisters of St. Joseph formed a community in Pembroke, Ontario. This slideshow celebrates their century of service in the Ottawa Valley.
The Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada administered a number of hospitals in Canada, including in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario, as well as in Brazil.
The Pembroke Sisters established the Radville Community Hospital in Radville, Saskatchewan, and administered St. Joseph's Hospital in Barrhead, Alberta and St. Francis Memorial Hospital in Barry's Bay, Ontario.
The Peterborough Sisters founded several hospitals in Ontario including St. Joseph's Hospital in Peterborough as well as St. Joseph's Hospital in Parry Sound, and St. Joseph's Hospital in North Bay. They also journeyed to Estevan, Saskatchewan to establish St. Joseph's Hospital. Travelling even further, they opened St. Joseph’s Hospital in Itacoataria, Brazil.
The London Sisters founded St. Joseph's Hospital in Chatham, and St. Joseph's Hospital in Sarnia, Ontario. In London, they established St. Joseph's Hospital and St. Mary's Hospital. They also set up several western hospitals including Stettler Hospital, Galahad Hospital, St. Paul's Hospital in Rimbey, and Killam General Hospital, all in Alberta.
The Hamilton Sisters established St. Joseph's Hospital in Guelph, St. Joseph's Hospital in Hamilton, St. Mary's Hospital in Kitchener, and St. Joseph's Hospital in Brantford, Ontario.
Our archives has records relating to some of these hospitals. We are also engaged in cataloguing medical artifacts from the time the Sisters administered St. Joseph's Hospital in London.
Please visit: History of Medicine and Medical Humanities - McMaster University
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Sisters of St. Joseph community in Pembroke, Ontario. The Sisters departed their second Motherhouse in Pembroke in 2019, after faithfully serving Pembroke and the nearby rural communities for one hundred years. During their time in the Ottawa Valley, the Sisters served as music teachers, elementary and secondary school educators, and healthcare workers. They administered St. Francis Hospital in Barry's Bay for many years. They established a Normal School, later St. Mary's Teachers' College, in Chapeau, Québec. They also branched out from Pembroke and administered hospitals and long-term care facilities in Barrhead, Alberta and Radville and Regina, Saskatchewan. They established a mission in Chincha Alta, Peru serving as nurses and educators. While the Sisters no longer live in the Motherhouse in Pembroke, they are still actively involved in serving the "dear neighbor" where ever they still reside - whether in Pembroke, Barry's Bay, Ottawa, or Peru.
