Urban Exploring The Abandoned St Thomas Psychiatric Hospital

In August of 1937 construction began on what was then known as the Ontario Hospital, St. Thomas. Built on the land of six area farm families, for the purpose of treating people with psychiatric illness, the hospital accepted its first 32 patients in April of 1939. By August of the same year, almost 1100 patients had come to reside at the hospital. Its greatest capacity with over 2,400 patients. Even before construction was complete, the hospital was known as the finest mental health hospital in the country because of its modern design. The site included 460 acres of land for the facility’s food and produce needs.

Shortly after the declaration of World War II in September of 1939, Premier Mitchell Hepburn and the Province of Ontario negotiated to lease the hospital buildings to the Department of National Defence in support of the war effort. By late October 1939, patients were relocated to other facilities across the province and hospital grounds became a training base for more than 60,000 air force personnel in the service, repair and maintenance of RCAF aircraft. At the end of the war the facility was returned to the Ontario Department of Health and restored to a fully functioning psychiatric hospital.

Upon re-opening in November of 1945 the hospital, in the words of Superintendent Dr. Lynch was “the most advanced in the Dominion.” By April of 1958, hospital admissions peaked at a total of 2238 patients. During this time, the facility pioneered many innovative approaches that supported patient health and well-being. One unique development during this time included the establishment of a 463 acre farm that provided staff and patients with the means and opportunity to participate in food production for the entire hospital.

The 1970’s through the new millennium was a time of significant change in the life of the hospital. Of notable interest was the introduction of the forensic mental health program in 1976. This period of time also saw the beginnings of mental health transformation. It was based on a new way of thinking; shifting care wherever possible, from an institutionalized model where some patients could spend long periods of time, often years, within the walls of a mental health facility to living productively in the community with proper support and resources.

In January 2001, St. Joseph’s took over governance of the former St. Thomas Psychiatric Hospital. This reorganization of mental health care was ordered by the Health Care Restructuring Commission (HSRC) in 1997. HSRC directives also called for the divestment of a certain number of long term specialized inpatient beds from St. Joseph’s to hospitals across southwestern Ontario and the construction of two new specialized mental health care facilities, one in London and one in St. Thomas.

The state of the art hospital has been built on the existing lands in Central Elgin- next to and replacing the existing Regional Mental Health Care St. Thomas building. Opened in June 2013, the new facility, entirely devoted to forensic psychiatry, better supports staff and a recovery model of care for patients by creating healing environments, providing a neighborhood and community setting which allows for individual growth and skill development and enables patients to return to community living more successfully.

Short Version Abandoned St Thomas Psychiatric Hospital Video

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZWEq2F6XR8[/embedyt]

Long Version Abandoned St Thomas Psychiatric Hospital Video

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23YO5cWeeas[/embedyt]

Urban Exploring The Abandoned St Thomas Psychiatric Hospital

A morgue in an abandoned/vacated psychiatric hospital. The two squares on the floor are where the autopsy tables would have been. To the left are the open doors to the freezer.

Urban Exploring The Abandoned St Thomas Psychiatric Hospital – 2015 Update and revisit

Urban Exploration Photography of abandoned psychiatric hospital

Urban Exploring and Abandoned Photography by Freaktography, Urban Exploring Photography enthusiast from Ontario Canada

Abandoned Psychiatric Centre by Freaktography

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This is what it will look like when you are placed inside a morgue fridge.

Beer Photography — A nice cold Coors Banquet chilled by the frigid cold of a morgue fridge

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Urban Exploring The Abandoned St Thomas Psychiatric Hospital – 2017 Update and revisit

Freaktography, abandoned, abandoned photography, abandoned places, creepy, curtain, decay, derelict, haunted, haunted places, photography, portrait, psychiatric, psychiatric hospital, self portrait, selfie, stage, theatre, urban exploration, urban exploration photography, urban explorer, urban exploring — “All the world’s a ……..” Psychiatric Hospital Theatre Self Portrait

EXIT, Freaktography, abandoned, abandoned photography, abandoned places, creepy, decay, derelict, door, exit sign, haunted, haunted places, ladder, photography, pipes, psychiatric, psychiatric hospital, rule of thirds, urban exploration, urban exploration photography, urban explorer, urban exploring — One of my all-time favourite locations in all of Ontario. I have explored this psychiatric hospital so many times, yet every time I go I find something different I had not seen before. A bit of a mind trick with this photo just to make things interesting. I’m working on a video from this location, but I may not get it done until next week Freaktography: Abandoned Places, Urban Exploration, Photography of the normally unseen and off-limits. ______________________________________________ Follow: www.instagram.com/freaktography Like: www.facebook.com/freaktography Visit: www.freaktography.com Subscribe: www.youtube.com/c/FreaktographyCaPhotography ____________________________________________________

Freaktography, abandoned, abandoned photography, abandoned places, abandoned psychiatric centre, abandoned psychiatric hospital, creepy, decay, derelict, haunted, haunted places, photography, psychiatric, psychiatric hospital, psychiatric institution, urban exploration, urban exploration photography, urban explorer, urban exploring

Freaktography, abandoned, abandoned photography, abandoned places, abandoned psychiatric centre, abandoned psychiatric hospital, corridors, creepy, decay, derelict, hallways, haunted, haunted places, leading lines, photography, psychiatric, psychiatric hospital, psychiatric institution, urban exploration, urban exploration photography, urban explorer, urban exploring, vanishing point — This abandoned psychiatric hospital is known for it’s many unique hallways and long corridors, almost every wing and ward is different, making for an interesting explore. You wan wander the hallways and tunnels of this abandoned institution along with me on my latest video upload at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=js1vDx3fcyM You can also see much much more from this location here: https://freaktography.com/abandoned-psychiatric-center/ Freaktography: Abandoned Places, Urban Exploration, Photography of the normally unseen and off-limits. ______________________________________________ Follow: www.instagram.com/freaktography Like: www.facebook.com/freaktography Visit: www.freaktography.com Subscribe: www.youtube.com/c/FreaktographyCaPhotography ____________________________________________________

2018 Explore of Abandoned St Thomas Psychiatric Hospital – Final Building to Explore

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBLuvab4HmY[/embedyt]

This location, the Abandoned St Thomas Psychiatric Hospital, I have managed to explore several times over the years, including an overnight where we set up hammocks in the forensics unit.

Of all the buildings and wings of this large former psychiatric hospital there has been only one building that I’ve not been able to explore and from the outside it looked to probably be the one with the most decay and natural destruction.

I was right

It was mid year and I was in the area and decided to do a drive through to see if this building was finally open, it is often opened up by local kids who want to go inside and goof around, but the maintenance people seal it back up just as fast as it opens.

I must have got there before the maintenance guys and I could finally see the inside of this one last building on the property.

Inside was an absolute mess, as I entered my face was attacked by cobwebs and the smell of abandoned was overwhelming!