Abandoned Hospitals Archives - Abandoned Urban Exploring & Urbex Photography https://riddimryder.com/category/abandoned-hospitals/ RiddimRyder Explores & Photographs Abandoned & Forgotten Places Sat, 20 May 2023 10:54:47 +0000 en-CA hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.4 https://i0.wp.com/riddimryder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-websitethumb.jpg?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 Abandoned Hospitals Archives - Abandoned Urban Exploring & Urbex Photography https://riddimryder.com/category/abandoned-hospitals/ 32 32 157258030 Abandoned Retirement Home https://riddimryder.com/abandoned-retirement-home/ https://riddimryder.com/abandoned-retirement-home/#comments Wed, 25 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://riddimryder.com/?p=17361 On a beautiful & sunny day Zenning with Zay took us to a an Abandoned Retirement Home!  From the outside…

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On a beautiful & sunny day Zenning with Zay took us to a an Abandoned Retirement Home!  From the outside you would have no idea it was a former retirement or just how big it really was!





The funny thing about this place was that we had driven past it many times but never noticed it was abandoned. I suspect that the property used to be maintained which is likely why we didn't notice. I also suspect that the large shop building was & likely still is used. As with every explore we start off inside!





We started on different ends of the abandoned retirement home! I took on the north end whereas Zay tackled the south. It make things go faster when you aren't waiting for each other to move! There were several bedrooms & bathrooms as well as a large living room with connecting dining room.  I suspected that most of this area was used by whomever operated the facility as it seemed somewhat separate from the rest of the place.





Continuing along we check out the massive kitchen! This would have been pretty sweet for a home kitchen although I don't think I could ever fill all those cupboards!!! The triple sink was pretty cool as well as all the custom & built in appliances!





The south end of the Abandoned Retirement Home Was definitely setup more like a facility. There were many small rooms for the residence & two small kitchenettes. There was also a decaying bedroom where water was ravaging the ceiling due to a failing roof.





Now as always we headed out to shoot exteriors. Not long after a white van pulled up. Two men exited headed right towards us quickly. We spoke & they advised we were trespassing however let us take a few more pics of the car. I made a big deal about it so they would go easier on us. They advised it was their place & they planned on renovating this summer. Just as we walked away the neighbour ripped over on his ATV to confront the men. Seeing this we decided it was time for us to get away quick! Not sure what transpired but we got away which is all that matters! Pretty awesome explore!!

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]]> https://riddimryder.com/abandoned-retirement-home/feed/ 1 17361 Vacant Lakeside Hospital https://riddimryder.com/vacant-lakeside-hospital/ https://riddimryder.com/vacant-lakeside-hospital/#respond Wed, 23 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://riddimryder.com/?p=13914 Back in 2020 Zenning with Zay & I head out to explore this Vacant Lakeside Hospital after a tip from…

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Back in 2020 Zenning with Zay & I head out to explore this Vacant Lakeside Hospital after a tip from Freaktography.





This Vacant Lakeside Hospital has a long history in the city with heavy French influence.  In 1867 a group of nuns from Montreal bought the building & surrounding land & converted it into a Catholic boarding school for girls in the area.  After some time it became clear the location of the school was too far from the convent & the property sat empty for several years.





In 1904 a second group of nuns from Montreal to care for the needy, ill & orphans. They needed room to expand & they purchased the vacant hospital to build an orphanage & training facility for nuns in training.  Construction began in 1908 as the sisters needed to gather the required funds.  The orphanage opened its doors with 24 nuns in training, 5 sisters & 80 children.  A few years later the nuns in training returned to their convent as the orphanage wasn't compatible with their training.





By the late 1920's the orphanage housed roughly 200 children & the building was expanded to house more. A decade later the number of orphans had significantly decreased as the social welfare authorities believed the orphans should be with adopted families to help them better integrate with society.





During the Second World War the orphanage was requisitioned by the Department of Defence & the remaining orphans were transferred to the Sister's new house not far away. It was then the conversion to a hospital took place & after the war it was no longer suitable for on orphanage. It was then decided to keep the facility as a hospital to treat the chronically ill as the city did not have such a facility.





Over the years the hospital expanded to what it is today.  It specialized in specialized geriatric services, rehabilitation, complex continuing care & palliative care.  The hospital finally closed in 2017 when the new, larger facility opened nearby.  All services offered at the hospital were moved & the hospital sat empty.





The hospital was sold the same year it closed to a nearby university. In 2020 it was announced the hospital would serve as an overflow facility for the surge of covid patients.





The hospital was mostly empty but there was still quite aa few interesting things! The x-ray room, rehabilitation pool & rehabilitation car were all pretty awesome! The car was definitely some I had never seen or heard of before! All in all a pretty cool explore!

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]]> https://riddimryder.com/vacant-lakeside-hospital/feed/ 0 13914 Abandoned Chedoke Hospital https://riddimryder.com/abandoned-chedoke-hospital/ https://riddimryder.com/abandoned-chedoke-hospital/#comments Mon, 25 Jan 2021 13:00:00 +0000 https://riddimryder.com/?p=11792 The Abandoned Chedoke Hospital was the second place Zenning with Zay & I took Urbex Opie to explore!  I had…

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The Abandoned Chedoke Hospital was the second place Zenning with Zay & I took Urbex Opie to explore!  I had already explored one building on the grounds several years earlier but this particular building was inaccessible back then!





The Evel Pavillion was built in 1932 by architectural company Hutton & Souter at a cost of just under $250,000.  Originally it could accommodate 155 patients but after extensive renovations, capacity increased.




Zay wanted to visit this place & having recently rescued Urbex Opie, we figured this would be a good & safe place to bring him to explore!  Obviously there are dangers in any abandoned place so we had to keep a close watch.  Being so young he wasn't really trying to get into things but more amazed with everything!





The hospital became a general hospital in 1960's & a decade later the government wanted to close it down. Local residents were apposed to the idea & pulled together some 80,000 signatures to keep it open. Over time the hospital became a non-acute care facility. It served younger outpatients in the areas of autism, mental health & developmental pediatrics. in 2016 all these services had relocated to the new $100 Million children's treatment facility.





Townhomes have already started being built on the surrounding land. Most of the other buildings on the grounds have already been demolished & the Evel Pavilion will meet the same fate.

The Abandoned Chedoke Hospital was a great explore but as always, its sad to see a piece of history destroyed.

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]]> https://riddimryder.com/abandoned-chedoke-hospital/feed/ 2 11792 Abandoned St. Mary’s Hospital https://riddimryder.com/abandoned-st-marys-hospital/ https://riddimryder.com/abandoned-st-marys-hospital/#comments Sun, 20 Oct 2019 22:00:58 +0000 https://riddimryder.com/?p=5143 Although I have made two visits to the Abandoned St Mary’s Hospital, I would definitely go again! Back in January…

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Although I have made two visits to the Abandoned St Mary’s Hospital, I would definitely go again!





Back in January of 2016 I made a road trip to the US for some epic adventuring! One of the places I stopped at was the former & now abandoned St Mary's Hospital. It was bitter cold but that didn't stop up for exploring ever inch of the massive building. The hospital was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015, 12 years after it was shutdown. Construction began on this red brick hulking building in 1912 & the hospital opened in 1914.





The building towers over all the surrounding structures with a nine story centre tower with two 5 story blocks on either side. A central corridor joins the structures together with two seven-story connectors. Upon opening the facility was state of the art! The design of the building was ahead of it's time with narrow corridors with plenty of windows allowing in ample amounts of natural light. The forward thinking would be considered a "green" initiative these days.





The hospital was equipped with a chapel & as part of the music therapy initiative, the organ could be heard throughout the facility. In 1948 a three story service building was added to the facility at a cost of $400,000 & was the only addition throughout the facility's life.





The hospital was run by the Sisters of St. Francis up until 1966 when the operations moved to a newer, nearby facility. This would open the last chapter of the building. Work began quickly & the former hospital was converted into a 104 room nursing home & operated as such for 37 years until closing in 2003. A newer facility was built & would accommodate some 250 rooms including the current residences of this facility.





Back when we first went we were told of a story where the police came after reports of people scrapping in the building. From what I understand was the brought in a K-9 unit to help track the scrapper & while on the roof of the building the dog jumped over a small wall not knowing there was nothing on the other side & fell to its death. The scrapper was caught & charged with the death of the dog among other charges, Details are sparse as it was several years ago when I heard this & unfortunately I have been able to locate an online article regarding it.





On our second visit the plan was to film a video unless things had dramatically changed. The only difference really was the decayed was getting worse which to me is a bonus but certainly not worth reshooting it all.





There was one last part of the hospital which we especially wanted to see again & that was the fully in tact dentist office. This room is what nightmares are made from! The old chair & equipment covered in 16 years of decay was just so awesome to see. I did end up taking a few pictures while in there on my second visit now that I had m y brand new Thrunite T1 Rechargeable Flashlight!




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]]> https://riddimryder.com/abandoned-st-marys-hospital/feed/ 5 5143 Abandoned St. Joseph’s Hospital – Parry Sound https://riddimryder.com/abandoned-st-josephs-hospital-parry-sound/ https://riddimryder.com/abandoned-st-josephs-hospital-parry-sound/#comments Wed, 24 Jul 2019 21:08:37 +0000 https://riddimryder.com/?p=4005 With demolition currently underway, it seems the Abandoned St. Joseph's Hospital Parry Sound will be just a memory But fortunately…

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With demolition currently underway, it seems the Abandoned St. Joseph's Hospital Parry Sound will be just a memory But fortunately I have many pictures & a video to remember it by!



The original hospital was constructed sometime in the 1890's & was nothing more than a 3 storey wood house.  Not long after construction began on the expansion of the hospital with the new section opening in 1907.   As the region grew, so did the hospital with a four storey wing opening in 1938.  Growth continued with a new two storey wing opening 20 years later.  The hospital operated as such until 1995 when it merged with the Parry Sound District Hospital becoming the West Parry Sound Health Centre.  Direction to build a new hospital by the province's Health Services Restructuring Commission resulted in the closure of the old hospital in 2005.  Plans for the property are unclear at the time however due to a crumbling facade the town forced the owners to submit an engineering report of the stability of the structure as well, fencing was erected.



As with majority of my explores I like to start at the top & work my way down.  There are two main reasons for this.  The first being I can have a quick walk through & see if there are any hidden dangers such as hobo murderer ghosts!  The second being if I am at the top & someone comes looking to yell/kick out/arrest me, I have a bit of time before they can actually get to me so I have time to grab a few more pics!



In 2019 I made two trips here & the first was with Zenning with Zay & the second with Freaktography.  We had both explored the hospital before separately but it had been several years & we both were eager to see what mother nature had done to the old girl over the years.  We had checked on it a few times over the winter but were unlucky with out timing however in May we were successful!  A huge board had been removed from one of the windows & we easily made out way inside.



One thing that was blatantly obvious was the decay was far more advanced than when we both had previously explored it.  Mind you there was plenty of decay several years ago but it now it was greatly amplified!  We also noticed that although there was some, there really wasn't that much tagging or vandalism despite being virtually beside a high school!  The owners for the most part had done an excellent job securing the building!



Moving along we enter one of the most popular rooms for explorers in the entire hospital.  The X-Ray room!  This room is just so cool with so much natural decay & of course the fact that in this mostly empty building there was still equipment....real cool equipment!



The next area that was easily ascertainable was the physio therapy room.  This room still had some of the equipment left behind & it was also one of my favourite rooms due to the textures, tones & those awesome cupboards!



The rest of the hospital was equally decayed throughout & although a lot of the rooms were the same, there were plenty of photo opportunities before descending into the dark basement,



Before heading down into the basement I did a quick stop in the East Wing where there was a large room with plenty of windows leading me to believe this was a lounge type area.  The outer wall here had become quite unstable forcing the city to take action against the property owners.  The water pooling on the floor here made for some sweet reflections & colour!



I then headed to the main lobby of Abandoned St. Joseph's Hospital Parry Sound & theatre which was very decayed & photogenic!



Now it was time to venture into the basement.  Down here was storage rooms, locker rooms, kitchen, auditorium, laundry facilities & lastly but also my favourite, the morgue.  Unfortunately time had not been kind to the morgue area & the ceiling had collapsed on to the autopsy table so I included a picture from 2013 when it was in much better condition!  The last two photos are the slab today & then 6 years ago.






The Abandoned St. Joseph's Hospital Parry Sound is slowly coming down & despite taking me a few years to finally visit it, I am glad I had the chance!  A truly unique location!



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