Swedish Hospital history

When Doctor Nils A. Johanson arrived from Denver in 1907, a new type of hospital was developing.

In 1908, Doctor Nils Johanson, a surgeon and Swedish immigrant, convinced 10 of his fellow Swedish-Americans to buy $1,000 bonds in order to open Swedish Hospital.

The Swedish Building at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, a world's fair held on the University of Washington campus in 1909, was built and managed by hospital supporters as a fundraiser for the hospital.

By June 1910 they had sufficient funds to sign a lease on an apartment house on Belmont Avenue in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood.

In August 1912 the Trustees voted to issue $100,000 in bonds to finance a new, bigger building.

A dedication ceremony marked the March 16, 1913, opening of the new hospital building.

In 1916, with the completion of the Peterson Addition, the hospital grew to 130 beds.

By 1923, fifty doctors had joined the staff and the hospital had earned recognition by both the American Medical Association and the American College of Surgeons.

Swedish Hospital's nursing school grew steadily, from a first class of four to 89 graduates in 1927.

In 1928 Doctor Johanson attended an international cancer conference in London where he learned about new methods of treating cancer with X-ray radiation.

Johanson established the Tumor Institute at Swedish (now known as the Swedish Cancer Institute) in 1932, based on this model of integrated research and treatment.

In 1937, the hospital expanded again with the addition of the 36-bed Northeast Wing built at the corner of Summit Avenue and Marion Street.

At first they lived in a series of houses on the block with the hospital, then, in 1946, the hospital built Eklind Hall, a residence for the nurses.

Also in 1956, Swedish Hospital surgeon Doctor William B. Hutchinson founded the Pacific Northwest Research Foundation.

The nurses lived next to the hospital in a series of residences until about 1960.

In 1967 four new floors were added to the Johanson Wing, increasing the hospital's capacity by 88 beds and doubling the intensive care unit for heart patients.

Both of these actions fulfilled recommendations made by the King County Hospital Development Steering Committee in 1973.

The Southwest Addition opened in 1976.

Doctors Hospital had a well-established family residency program, which Swedish adopted after the 1980 merger.

In addition to the projects described above, the Elmer J. Nordstrom Medical Tower, a 16-floor medical office building located at Madison Street and Summit Avenue, opened in 1985 and named in honor of one of Swedish Hospital's longtime Trustees and the son-in-law of Doctor Johanson.

Decades later, in 1988, Swedish's Executive Director Allan Lobb would identify the opening of the Tumor Institute as one of the keys to Swedish's success.

The merger was completed on July 1, 1992.

In 2004, the research foundation, then known as the Pacific Northwest Research Institute, changed its mission to focus solely on diabetes research and became the Pacific Northwest Diabetes Research Institute.

The kidney center, always an independently operating organization, now (2010) has its own facilities serving communities across the Northwest.

Phase one, Outpatient Services, opened in July 2011, while phase two, Inpatient Services, was completed ahead of schedule and opened in November 2011, further enhancing access for residents on the eastside.

In February 2012, Swedish and Providence finalized the affiliation agreement, and joined forces to improve health care for Western Washington.

In the fall of 2014, Swedish Covenant Hospital opened the Mayora Rosenberg Women's Health Center.

In June 2015, Swedish Covenant Hospital opened its first immediate care center in Chicago's Sauganash neighborhood.

In May 2016, Swedish Covenant Hospital's Nurse-Midwifery Group announced the launch of a CenteringPregnancy program, allowing expecting mothers with similar due dates and their providers to develop long-lasting relationships with one another in a comfortable group setting.

In June 2019, NorthShore University HealthSystem agreed to purchase Swedish Covenant.