Sacred Heart Care Center history

1982 – St Elizabeth opened the new west wing, which included a new emergency department, surgery center, obstetrics office and laboratory.

1983 – "Sacred Heart Air" (Adult Infant Rescue) air ambulance program begins.

1984 – East Addition opens, housing psychiatry, rehabilitation and outpatient services.

1985 (June 8) – Heartflite. a full-time, hospital-based air transport program, begins service.

1988 – St Elizabeth and Lakeview Memorial merged their operations to create United Samaritans Medical Center, creating a solid platform for growth.

April, 1991, brought the opening of an additional Adult Day Program, specializing in services for clients who have been diagnosed with dementia-related disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease.

1992 – The United Samaritans Foundation started its donor recognition program, an association giving program and the Women Aware and HALO community outreach programs.

The Sacred Heart Assisted Living Apartments opened in April, 1997.

In 1998, Avera Sacred Heart began planning a new project to expand senior services on a 40-acre parcel of land overlooking the beautiful scenic Missouri River Valley along Highway 52 – Majestic Bluffs.

1999 – Provena United Samaritans and Provena Covenant Health in Urbana, Illinois, joined together to create the Provena Regional EMS system, coordinating the emergency response activities of 47 agencies in eight counties.

In May 2000, 113 residents moved into the Avera Sister James Care Center at the site.

Sacred Heart Hospital began a new era of expansion in 2002 when ground was broken for construction of the $35-million Advanced Center for Medicine and Surgery and later the expansion of the Emergency Medical and Trauma Center and Regional Cancer Center.

In 2003, Sacred Heart opened a children's hospital.

In the fall of 2004, Sacred Heart opened a new tower for woman's heath center and surgery center.

In the summer of 2006, Avera Sacred Heart's new Emergency Department opened its doors, doubling the number of patient rooms, and providing the latest in emergency care technology.

Construction of the 60,000-square-foot Avera Professional Office Pavilion was completed in the summer of 2007.

2008: Comprehensive Wound Healing Center opens, providing treatments and therapies to help speed the healing process.

2009: Transitional Care Facility opens, offering individualized comprehensive skilled nursing care and rehabilitation in a home-like environment.

2010: Extended Acute Care opens, a $1.8 million project providing consumers lon­ger-term care in an environment designed to have a positive impact on their recovery.

2011 – In November, through the merger of Provena Health and Resurrection Health Care, Presence Health was created.

Sacred Heart celebrated its 100th anniversary in the heart of the Allentown in June 2012. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO / SACRED HEART HOSPITAL)

In December 2015, the 73 beds in the Avera Yankton Care Center were moved to a new Avera Sister James Care Center addition.

In addition, a hospice residential house was built as part of the addition and opened in April 2016.

2017 – In August, OSF HealthCare, under the sponsorship of the Sisters of the Third Order of St Francis, signed a letter of intent to take ownership of Presence United Samaritans Medical Center.

2018 – In February, the Sisters of the Third Order of St Francis renamed Presence United Samaritans Medical Center to OSF HealthCare Sacred Heart Medical Center to honor the legacy of the original founding Sisters of St Elizabeth Hospital.