Oakland Regional Hospital history

Mercy Hospital eventually moved to the uptown area of Pittsburgh. It was founded in 1843 by the Sisters of Mercy, a Catholic religious congregation from Ireland.

William Passavant began caring for Mexican War soldiers in 1849 on the North Side, calling the hospital the Pittsburgh Infirmary.

In 2013, it became part of Allegheny Health Network. It opened in 1853 with the capability to care for 100 patients.

Founded in 1866 and originally known as Homeopathic Medical and Surgical Hospital and Dispensary, what is now Shadyside Hospital was once located in downtown Pittsburgh.

In 1884, the hospital started the area’s first nursing school.

In 1887, Kirk LeMoyne, the young son of a Pittsburgh pediatrician, and some friends had an idea to raise $3,000 to endow a cot at The Western Pennsylvania Hospital dedicated to the care of an infant or child.

The 15-bed Pittsburgh Hospital for Children opened in 1890.

Presbyterian Hospital was founded by Louise Lyle, the wife of a Presbyterian minister, in 1893 on the North Side.

The first Westmoreland Hospital opened in 1896 and was nothing larger than a home, but it was a godsend to the residents in the area many of them who were coal miners and had a high risk of injury.

The community rapidly outgrew that first hospital and a new two-story hospital opened in 1898 on the corner of West Pittsburgh and Spring Streets.

In 1902, the Sisters opened St Joseph's School of Nursing.

Sewickley Valley Hospital opened in 1907 and was a true community hospital as residents of Sewickley donated land for it and raised the funds to construct it.

Montefiore Hospital was founded by the Hebrew Ladies Hospital Aid Society in 1908 to serve the health concerns of the city’s Jewish community.

Early 20th century medical equipment seems primitive to us moderns, but St Joseph's was credited with several firsts for Iowa, including an X-ray machine in 1910.

The hospital began in 1911 in a home at the corner of Forbes Avenue and Halkett Street.

With the growing Pittsburgh population, West Penn needed to expand as well and moved to a new facility in Bloomfield in 1912.

The hospital was closed in 1918 during the influenza epidemic and leased to care for stricken soldiers.

In 1936, a 22-story hospital opened on the site, making it one of the first skyscraper hospitals in the nation.

The new hospital opened in 1938 with the objective of providing health care, conducting research, and providing education.

Kaiser Permanente pioneer Avram Yedidia tells a memorable story about several local policemen who visited the Oakland Medical Center in 1946 with an eye to join the Health Plan.

In 1947, Henry Kaiser and his wife, Beth, established the Kaiser Foundation School of Nursing and soon the halls of the medical center — expanded by then to 230 beds — were bustling with white-capped student nurses and their strict mentors, all clad in crisp white uniforms and sensible shoes.

A new hospital opened in 1949 on Heckel Road.

In 1952, polio in Sioux City had reached epidemic status.

The new hospital opened in February 1954 and was named for American Patriot Major General Arthur St Clair, who in addition to fighting for our independence, was also a student of medicine and an early Pittsburgh resident.

In the 1960's, the hospital introduced EKG monitors and defibrillators to Sioux City.

Passavant, opened in McCandless Township in 1964 to serve the growing suburban population in the North Hills.

In 1965, the Oakland Medical Center opened its first specialized cardiac care unit with physicians and nurses trained to use the latest heart monitoring equipment to care for patients.

In 1970, physicians in Oakland began a progressive nurse practitioner certification program; specially trained nurses were assigned to see patients who needed routine primary care but didn’t need to see a physician unless a problem emerged.

Kaiser Permanente officials decided to replace the hospital with the new Oakland Medical Center across MacArthur Boulevard from the original 1972-built tower.

In 1973, the two hospitals formed South Hills Health System and eventually changed its name to Jefferson Regional Medical Center.

In January 1977, the city's two Catholic hospitals announced that they would merge and form one institution, Marian Health Center.

Later that year, the two hospitals established the first cardiac catheterization lab, paving the way for Doctor Ted Roman in 1978 to perform the city's first open heart surgery in the St Joseph's unit.

Groundbreaking ceremonies were held in 1979 for a new $28 million hospital adjacent to St Vincent's, the present site of Mercy Medical Center.

In 1980, new radiology services, including ultrasound and CAT scans, opened on the Oakland campus.

In 1981, Garfield was instrumental in the opening of a new primary care center, which was part of his mission to encourage members to take measures to stay healthy and avoid chronic disease, such as diabetes, heart problems and cancer.

Patients, equipment and clinical departments began moving into the new building in August 1982.

Sadly, in 1984, Garfield died while still working on his "Total Health" research project.

Perhaps the greatest test of Marian Health Center's mettle came on July 19, 1989, when United Airlines Flight 232 crashed during an emergency landing at the Sioux City Airport.

In 1990, Montefiore became affiliated with the Presbyterian-University Hospital of Pittsburgh and eventually became part of the UPMC system.

In September 1991, the production crew of a TV movie on the crash spent several days filming scenes depicting patient care on location at Marian.

In 1997, it merged with UPMC.

In the summer of 1999, Marian Health Center changed its name to Mercy Medical Center-Sioux City, the new title in honor of the Sisters of Mercy.

Garfield’s Total Health philosophy can still be seen in ways great and small at the Oakland Medical Center, right down to a weekly farmers' market — founded in 2003 — that served as a template for 50 such markets that operate in communities across the nation today.

Mercy Hospital was Pittsburgh’s first hospital. It became UPMC Mercy in 2008 and is the only remaining Catholic hospital in the area.

In 2013, it became part of Allegheny Health Network.