Infirmary Health history

In 1916, Tuscaloosa took the first step toward providing the healthcare its citizens needed.

Also, in 1920, St Vincent became the first hospital in the state to be certified by the American College of Surgeons.

In 1923, Touro was one of only fifteen hospitals in the country approved to use insulin to treat patients.

In 1929, Touro was one of the first hospitals in the United States and the first in the city to have a physical therapy department, which paved the way for our nationally recognized Rehabilitation Center.

Years later, this organization developed into the healthcare accreditation organization now known as The Joint Commission.In 1938, the Sisters celebrated their Golden Jubilee (50th anniversary) in Little Rock by opening a maternity annex.

In 1946, the hospital board took its first steps to address the county’s health care needs by restructuring the private, nonprofit board that had operated the hospital since it opened, because it could not raise the necessary funds to meet the needs of a growing city.

In late February 1949 ground was broken on land in front of the second facility on Springhill Avenue.

In December 1952, Tuscaloosa County received an early but long-awaited Christmas gift: Druid City Hospital employees and community volunteers moved 77 patients from the Northington location to the new hospital on University Boulevard.

In December of 1954, St Vincent made its fourth move to new quarters.

Later on, Doctor Segrest became the chief of medical staff at Mobile Infirmary, and in 1968, Martin Lester, M.D., opened his practice at Diagnostic & Medical Clinic.

The 60-bed maternity wing would also become the foundation for the state's first Intensive Care Nursery in 1972.

In response, the Daughters of Charity made the difficult decision in 1982 to relocate Ascension Providence to its present site in West Mobile.

The $60 million facility, with its distinctive futuristic architecture, accepted its first patients on July 15, 1987.

The clinic moved to the Mobile Infirmary campus in 1991, and as the senior partner of the group, Doctor Lester remains an integral part of the clinic's relationship with Mobile Infirmary.

St Vincent would enter a 16 year hiatus before resuming obstetrics in 1992.

In 2009, Touro and Children’s Hospital partnered to form LCMC Health, a non-profit, community-based system providing a complete continuum of care from birth to geriatrics.