Our History
St. Mary Medical Center: 125 Years of Caring
The history of St. Mary Medical Center in Walla Walla, Wash., is a story of dedication, perseverance and vision.
Only 50 families lived in Walla Walla when the first Sisters of Providence, Mother Joseph and Sr. Catherine, arrived in the little town in the autumn of 1863. "That place promises to become important,’’ Mother Joseph wrote.
A local banker, Edmund Barron, donated two blocks of land for a hospital, academy and institutions.
Mother Joseph opened St. Vincent Academy in Walla Walla in 1864. The sisters taught school children, took in women boarders and visited the sick in their homes. Eventually, they cared for sick individuals at the Academy as well.
The need for a dedicated hospital building grew with the town. In 1879, Sr. Catherine asked for and received permission from the General Council of the Sisters of Providence in Montreal, Canada, to build a hospital separate from the school. The Walla Walla Statesman newspaper noted that at the time the sisters had “hardly a dollar of their own to purchase the first brick.”
To fund the construction, merchants donated money, the ladies of the parish held a bazaar, and the sisters undertook perilous trips to beg in mountain camps.
St. Mary Hospital opened Jan. 27, 1880, with seven patients. The building was quickly outgrown.
In 1883, a new St. Mary Hospital was constructed for $30,000, and the former building was converted into a new home for St. Vincent’s Academy. During the construction, patients lived and were cared for in the nearby church.
Thirty-five patients moved in to the newly completed hospital. The beds were all uniform, and white curtains framed the windows. The sisters raised vegetables and chickens on the grounds.
The construction left the hospital $23,000 in debt. The struggling little hospital was helped along the next year when it obtained a contract for $2,000 to care for the county’s poor. It also signed a contract with the Northern Pacific Railroad to care for sick company employees for the flat rate of $1 a day.
St. Mary was among the first 16 places in Walla Walla to install telephones June 20, 1884. By 1886, it also was offering an early form of medial insurance: for $10 a year, people could purchase a ticket that entitled them to free board, medicine and care.
St. Mary Hospital opened a school of nursing in Nov. 9, 1907, and it operated through 1958.
The 35th anniversary of St. Mary Hospital brought tragedy with a fire that burned it to the ground Jan. 27, 1915. The sick were hurried to neighbors’ houses or St. Vincent Academy for shelter. Doctors were in the middle of an operation, and quickly completed it before passing the patient through a window to a waiting ambulance. Chaplain Rev. Romuald Balducci grabbed up the Blessed Sacrament and jumped out a window, breaking his foot in the process. Firemen battled the flames for hours, but were unable to save the hospital.
The hospital reopened 12 days later in the old Fort Walla Walla hospital buildings.
A new St. Mary Hospital was built on the ashes of the former. It was made of brick and stone, and stood five stories high. It opened Oct. 8, 1916. Several disasters struck the building over the years, including a flood and a fire believed to have been started by a man known as Three Fingered Jack. None succeeded in destroying the hospital. It stood solid until it’s demolition to make way for new times.
In 1971, a drive began to raise money to build a new, modern hospital. The hospital’s name was changed to St. Mary Community Hospital in 1973 to reflect the community’s support and investment.
A new hospital building, the current St. Mary, opened March 26, 1976. It was constructed for $13 million, and is licensed for 142 beds. It was renamed St. Mary Medical Center in 1984.
St. Mary Medical Center has expanded and improved facilities and technology many times over the years to meet the needs of the community. The Same Day Surgery Center opened in 1988, St. Mary Regional Cancer Center in 1990, the Poplar Medical Complex in 1991, and the Chase Medical Complex in July, 2001.
In 2003 St. Mary embarked on a $28 million expansion. An elegant new entrance, Admitting Department, Emergency Department, Pharmacy and Imaging Department opened in 2004.
In 2005, St. Mary Medical Center began construction on a new St. Mary Regional Cancer Center and Same Day Surgery Center. Both projects are due for completion in 2006. A Reflection Garden will be built by the Cancer Center as well.
Through the years, St. Mary has held fast to the values set forth by its founders, the Sisters of Providence. St. Mary honors the sacrifices made by those who came before, and looks toward the future of continuing to provide quality health care to the region.