2024–2025 Community Report

We at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton recognize that the lands on which we provide care are the traditional territories of the Mississauga and Haudenosaunee peoples. For thousands of years, the first people sought to steward the precious resources and share this land with others. These territories are the subject of the Dish with One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between nations to peaceably share and care for the lands around the Great Lakes.

At St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, we pledge to continue to walk together with Indigenous Peoples in building a more just society where their gifts and those of all people are nurtured and honoured.

Learn more about the Indigenous health team

Dr. Heenan smiles at the camera. He has a shaved head and light-toned skin. He wears glasses, and a navy blue suit jacket.

Message from Dr. Michael Heenan, President, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton and President and CEO, St. Joseph’s Health System

A legacy of compassionate care guiding us into the future

When the Sisters of St. Joseph first sailed into Hamilton Harbour in 1852, they knew they would be providing care to those in need. But there was no way of knowing the scale to which their services would be called on in the ensuing years, helping some of the sickest and most vulnerable residents during outbreaks of cholera and typhus.

Those early, difficult days, marked by challenging conditions that often led the Sisters to put their own health at risk, paved the way for the creation of St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, a hospital that opens its doors to everyone in need and provides them with high-quality, compassionate care.

Today, St. Joe’s is one of the country’s leading academic health sciences organization, playing a pivotal role in the health and well-being of our community while investing in education and research to help us reach a better tomorrow.

And everything we do is grounded in the mission of the Sisters – providing compassionate care to those in need. Every day, I am moved by examples of the ways in which members of the St. Joe’s team go above and beyond in the name of compassionate care. Whether it be spending an extra moment holding the hand of a patient before surgery or helping an unhoused person find a place to sleep, I am continually inspired by the examples of compassionate care in action at St. Joe’s.

Over the past year, we have had so much to celebrate, with important renovations to our emergency department, to the announcement of a provincial investment to redevelop our neonatal intensive care unit and the federal investment of more than $4.3 million to our mental health and addictions team to fund an innovative peer support program for people who use substances. I’m excited to see what the next year will bring to help us further advance our leadership in other key areas, including respiratory health, ophthalmology, kidney care, women’s and infant’s health, research and academics and internal medicine.

We are also embarking on new work to ensure that the people who come to work at St. Joe’s every day feel safe and protected from all forms of violence. We know that incidents of racism, physical assault, verbal abuse and other forms of violence are on the rise in healthcare. St. Joe’s has launched a new working group to help prevent all forms of workplace violence. This work includes the rollout of new signage and an anti-violence campaign, as well as the launch of a comprehensive third-party audit to determine where and how we can improve.

I am so proud of the work being done at St. Joe’s. And I know some of our most important work may never reach the headlines: A mental health specialist who helps avert tragedy. A security professional who brings a warm cup of coffee and a sandwich to a person living on the street. A nurse who spends an extra 20 minutes after a shift to keep a dialysis patient company.

A lot has changed since those seminal early days in the history of St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton. But as I look around our community, with people struggling in the midst of illness, poverty and other serious challenges, I see important parallels between then and now that remind us to look to the legacy of the Sisters of St. Joseph. Their mission of providing compassionate care to all those in need are interwoven into everything we do. That dedication to compassionate service will continue to guide us into the future and will serve as a powerful reminder of the foundations of this incredible organization.

Thank you to our community for putting your faith in us and allowing us to care for you, your family and your friends.

Dr. Michael Heenan
President, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton
President and CEO, St. Joseph’s Health System

Compassionate care – measurements of our success

As a leading research and academic health sciences centre, we are committed to delivering high-quality, compassionate care to our patients. We track and monitor a wide range of performance indicators to ensure we are doing everything we can to deliver the best care, including communication between patients and their care teams, patients’ satisfaction with the information they receive at discharge and emergency department wait times. According to the latest available data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) and Ontario Health, St. Joe’s is exceeding provincial and national averages in many of these areas, demonstrating our leadership and commitment to constant improvement.

Patient-provider communications

The majority of our patients said nurses and doctors communicated well with them (82 per cent, compared to the provincial average of 75 per cent and the national average of 72 per cent) and that they were satisfied with the information they received at discharge (71 per cent, compared to the provincial and national average of 59 per cent) (CIHI).

Patient initial assessment

The average time it takes our emergency department patients to be seen by a physician after being triaged upon arrival (Physician Initial Assessment or PIA) is 2.7 hours, lower than the provincial average of 4.4 hours and the Canadian average of 5.2 hours. Our PIA time is ranked first among Ontario teaching hospitals and eighth out of 74 hospitals in the province (Ontario Health).

Hospital standardized mortality rate

St. Joe’s mortality rate (Hospital Standardized Mortality Ratio or HSMR) is 88, lower than the Ontario rate of 93 and the Canadian rate of 97. The percentage of patient deaths following major surgery is 1.1 per cent compared to the Canadian average of 1.7 per cent (CIHI).

Barbara sits in front of a shelf full of books with her hands stacked together. She faces the camera smiling. She has light-toned skin, shoulder-length blonde hair, and wears a black turtleneck.

Message from Barbara Beaudoin, Chair of the St. Joseph’s Hamilton Joint Boards of Governors

Our commitment to delivering compassionate care.

As I reflect on my years of service as chair of the joint board of governors, I am incredibly humbled by the ways in which physicians, staff, learners and volunteers show up for the communities we serve every day. With ever-increasing challenges faced by healthcare organizations across the region, St. Joe’s continues to lean into our strengths by creating opportunities to lead with a strong vision for the future and the commitment to serve on our mission: delivering compassionate care, driving innovation and building hope and resilience into every stage of the patient experience.

St. Joe’s stays true to our foundation of serving those with the greatest need to truly make an impact on the health of the individual, their families and the community. This dedication and unwavering commitment to our patients and community are the values upon which St. Joe’s was founded, with an unstoppable vision for driving change, delivering hope and leading in discovery.

I truly believe that St. Joe’s has what I like to call a ‘special sauce.’ It’s a collective effort of like-minded individuals caring for our community, uniquely compassionate and something you can feel the minute you walk through the doors. It takes all of us, every day, working towards a common goal – that’s our special sauce.

As I close this chapter on my time as Board Chair, I want to thank the physicians, staff, learners, volunteers and my fellow board members. Each has remained steadfast in their unwavering commitment to embodying the values of the Sisters of St. Joseph. Our organization continues to grow and connect so meaningfully with the regions, cities and diverse populations we serve. It is in these connections, both old and new, that the strength of our mission and the compassion delivered through our service continues to shine brighter with each passing year.

It has been my honour to serve, to share in our learnings and to grow with all of you.

Barbara Beaudoin
Chair of the St. Joseph’s Hamilton Joint Boards of Governors

Chair of the St. Joseph's Hamilton Joint Boards of Governors, Barbara Beaudoin looking directly at the camera

Message from Sister Anne Anderson, CSJ, Past Chair of St. Joseph’s Health System Board of Directors

I am pleased to share this message with the St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton community through the pages of the 2024–25 Community Report.

In these pages, you will find stories about healthcare workers who are innovators, visionaries, and compassionate care providers. Their dedication continues to build stronger, more connected communities, driven by a shared mission of living the legacy through compassionate care, innovation, faith and discovery.

This legacy began with the Sisters of St. Joseph, who arrived in Canada in 1852, committed to serving the “dear neighbour” with courage and compassion. The Sisters built partnerships and faced the uncertainties of the future with unwavering faith and determination. That spirit lives on today in the way our teams care for patients — and for each other.

Compassion is the thread that connects our past, present, and shapes our future. It is the reason we innovate. It is the reason we teach, research, and adapt. And it is the reason we build and grow. Whether we are expanding access to care, leading in clinical research, or nurturing partnerships across Hamilton and beyond, we do so grounded in a mission that sees every act of care as a step toward a better tomorrow.

As a member of St. Joseph’s Health System, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton continues to lead with vision — pioneering new approaches to care, educating future healthcare leaders, and embracing research and education to improve outcomes. We know the future holds uncertainty, but we also know it holds promise. The “More” that defines us urges us always to seek what’s next — for the good of those we serve.

Today, we pause to recognize how far we’ve come and how we’ve grown stronger together. And we reaffirm our responsibility to carry the legacy forward — with faith, humility, courage, and unity.

As we look to the future, let us continue to stand together as a compassionate force — one that welcomes innovation, fosters discovery, and builds a sustainable system of care, always in service of the dear neighbour.

With gratitude,

Anne Anderson, CSJ
Past Chair
St. Joseph’s Health System Board of Directors

From transformative initiatives to improving the quality of care, St. Joe’s is celebrating accomplishments related to our strategic priorities.

Learn more about our strategic plan

In the heart of our community, St. Joe’s stands as a beacon of compassion and care, committed to equity, diversity, inclusion and Indigenous Reconciliation.

Learn more about our initiatives (PDF)