St. Joseph Medical Center history

Two months later, the Sisters had raised sufficient funds to build a "real hospital." On March 19, 1895, a stake was driven into the ground to mark the site of what would become a hospital housing 24 private rooms that opened onto porches.

In November 1947, a fundraising campaign began to raise money to build the new hospital.

The modern, spacious facility opened in July of 1953.

1956 — First lay advisory board appointed Medical staff members join community leaders to preserve hospital operations until a new facility can be built

1957 — St Joseph is the first hospital in Maryland to have a structured cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) team

1968 — Osler Drive Emergency Physician Associates (ODEPA) establishes the first 24/7 emergency physicians group in Maryland St Joseph opens the first short-term inpatient psychiatric unit in Maryland

1980 — St Joseph wins regulatory approval for a CAT scan

1981 — St Joseph Hospital, under the leadership of the Sisters of St Francis of Philadelphia, becomes part of Franciscan Health System

1982 — St Joseph is the only community-based hospital in Maryland licensed to perform open-heart surgery

1986 — International Center for Skeletal Dysplasia opens

2000 — The Heart Institute performs the largest volume of heart procedures in Maryland, treating one in four open-heart surgery patients in the state

2004 — The new Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Emergency Department opens

St Elizabeth Hospital opened in February 2011 in Enumclaw, replacing Enumclaw Regional Hospital as the community's acute-care facility.

2013 — The inaugural classes of the hospital’s Healing Hands Guild and Profiles of Compassion Society are inducted.