‘Emergency situation’ at St. Joseph’s hospital in Toronto, no heat or hot water

A boiler system failure at St. Joseph’s Health Centre has left the west-end Toronto hospital without heat, hot water, and steam on a day when the temperature feels as cold as -16.

Unity Health Toronto, which oversees operations at St. Joe’s, called the outage an “emergency situation” and advised patients to not come to its ER unless it is a life-threatening emergency.

“If you are experiencing a medical emergency, please seek care at an alternative hospital or contact your healthcare provider for guidance,” the hospital network said in a post on X.

All non-essential activities at the hospital have been cancelled because of the boiler system issue. Unity Health Toronto said patients with appointments will be contacted directly by their care team to reschedule.

Dialysis and chemotherapy patients are not affected by the outage and should attend their appointments as scheduled, Unite Health Toronto added.

The hospital network said it is working to keep its buildings as warm as possible as it works to resolve the issue.

This is a developing news story. More to come.