ST LUKE'S HOME CARE PROGRAM history

In 1975 the Chest Clinic opened in a newly constructed space at University Medical Center.

1976 — The VNA staff administers flu vaccine to homebound elderly.

Arizona governor Bruce Babbitt called the renovated St Luke’s Home for Women “the first of a series of innovative care projects for the elderly” when he attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony along with 250 others on May 15, 1980.

1981 — The VNA expands its hours and offers services from 8 am to 8 pm due to demand.

Beginning in 1985 with a painting by Santos Barbosa, every year a piece of art would be raffled at the Baile).

St Luke’s Hospice began in 1986 with four patients and a small team of interdisciplinary professionals dedicated to provide comfort care to the terminally ill in the community.

1989 — The VNA Hospice is certified by Medicare.

1990 St Luke's Medical Tower—now known as The O'Quinn Medical Tower at St Luke's—opened, earning the distinction of being the icon most associated with the Texas Medical Center.

The seventy-fifth Baile was held in April 1994 at Trail Dust Town.

Planning began in 1995, when Catholic health leaders began to explore strengthening community health care for the future.

First held in October 1996 at the Doubletree Hotel on Alvernon Way, the event was suggested by Christie Sherwood Spencer, an ardent advocate for the home.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held for the “new” St Luke’s Home on May 13, 1999.

The ambitious goal for the redevelopment project was to begin construction January 1, 2000 and complete it by the end of that same year.

2002 — The VNA changes name to Visiting Nurse Association of St Luke’s to better reflect its role as part of St Luke’s Hospital & Health Network.

Under the leadership of the St Francis restoration committee headed by Joanne Bennett and Margaret Kordsiemon, the project had begun with a building assessment in 2003, and the first phase of the work included the installation of new stained-glass windows depicting St Luke and St Francis.

2004 Baylor College of Medicine and St Luke’s Episcopal Health System enter into a new affiliation agreement that significantly expanded St Luke’s relationship as Baylor’s private adult affiliated teaching hospital.

2005 St Luke’s Episcopal Hospital was re-designated a Magnet Hospital for Nursing Excellence by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).

2008 St Luke’s Sugar Land Hospital opens to provde medical and surgical clinical services, including women’s health, emergency care, intensive care, and diagnostic and interventional cardiac catheterization labs in one Texas’ fastest growing communities.

Completion of the second phase was celebrated at a program in March 2009.

2010 St Luke’s The Vintage Hospital opens in Northwest Houston offering a full spectrum of inpatient and outpatient services.

2013 The Episcopal Diocese of Texas transfers ownership of St Luke’s Episcopal Health to Catholic Health Initiatives, the nation’s third-largest faith-based health system.

2014 Catholic Health Initiatives and Baylor College of Medicine signed a joint agreement to open an acute-care, open-staff hospital on Baylor’s McNair Campus, which is currently home to the Baylor College of Medicine Medical Center and the Lee and Joe Jamail Specialty Care Center.

2016 St Luke’s Health–Springwoods Village medical campus opened on a mixed-used community home to provide emergency services, diagnostic imaging, and outpatient surgery to the residents and employee population in the surrounding North Harris County area.

© 2018 St Luke's in the Desert.

The spectacular 100th Baile de las Flores continues the traditions of past Bailes on April 6, 2019 at the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa, honoring the significant service of the Board of Visitors and promoting the important mission of St Luke’s Home.