Our Heritage Stories
Providence St. Vincent Medical Center
Portland, Oregon, 1880
The first St. Vincent Hospital
at 12th and Marshall.
Providence St. Vincent Medical Center
Sisters and lay nurses at
12th Avenue and Marshall
Street building.
St. Patrick Hospital & Providence of the Sacred
Heart Academy Missoula, Montana, 1885
Second building of the
sisters in Missoula.
At this time, the school
and hospital were housed
in the same building.
Providence Yakima Medical Center
Yakima, Washington, 1900
The first home
of St. Elizabeth.
Sacred Heart Medical Center
Spokane, Washington, 2002
Providence Seattle Medical Center
Seattle, Washington, 1900
Patient receiving anesthesia
prior to surgery.
Holy Cross Hospital
Nome, Alaska,1903
Storefront building that
housed Holy Cross Hospital.
Providence Everett Medical Center
Everett, Washington, 1905
Providence Everett, formerly the
Monte Cristo Hotel, on Pacific and
Romer Street. The building was
purchased by the sisters May 13,
1904 for $50,000 and opened as the
hospital March 1, 1905 after
$13,000 worth of remodeling. The
hospital contained 75 beds. The
building was demolished between
August 1924 and May 1925.
Providence Seattle Medical Center
Seattle, Washington, 1908
A men's ward, second floor of
the old Providence Seattle at
5th Avenue and Madison St.
The nurse is Ellen Waldron.
On wall at back, note
incongruous advertisement
for the El Paso de Robles
Springs Hotel, a grand
spa/hotel at Paso Robles,
midway between LA and San
Francisco.
Providence Medford Medical Center
Medford, Oregon, 1920
Sister and nurse apply
bandages to a patient.
Holy Family Hospital
Spokane, Washington, 2000
Providence Yakima Medical Center
Yakima, Washington, 1924
Providence Seattle Medical Center
Seattle, Washington, 1930
Mount Carmel Hospital
Colville, Washington, 2000
Providence St. Peter Hospital
Olympia, Washington, 1924
L-R: Dr. Wickman,
Ana Reinhart; Sr. Oliver,
Dr. Mowell, Dr. Redpath,
Mary Reinhart,
Mrs. Mosbaugh (patient)
Deer Park Hospital
Deer Park, Washington, 2000
Holy Cross Hospital
Nome, Alaska, 1905
Providence St. Vincent Medical Center
Portland, Oregon, 1914
L-R: Mary Christina,
Francesca, Dr. Kerry Jones
operating, Harry
Hendershot giving
anesthesia.
St. Patrick Hospital
Missoula, Montana, 1946
Student in clinical training
making a transfusion.
St. Patrick Hospital
Missoula, Montana, 2004
St. Joseph Hospital
Fairbanks, Alaska, 1950
Sr. Aurelia Franz
Providence Seattle Medical Center
Seattle, Washington, 1950
Mother and newborn at
Providence Seattle. Sr. Cecile
was a maternity nurse at the
hospital from 1950-1958.
Providence Hospital
Oakland, California, 1950
Emergency Department
St. Joseph Medical Center
Polson, Montana, 2002
St. Patrick Hospital
Missoula, Montana, 1950
A sister student preparing
an x-ray plate.
Sister Georgette Bayless, 1950
St. Joseph Hospital
Vancouver, Washington, 1953
Sister Marie Janvier
began working in the
SJH pharmacy in 1952.
Providence St. Peter Hospital
Olympia, Washington, 1960
Student nurse reading to a patient
at Providence St. Peter Hospital.
Classroom instruction at Providence
St. Peter Hospital School of Nursing.
St. Mary Medical Center
Walla Walla, Washington, 2005
St. Patrick Hospital
Missoula, Montana, 1960
Helicopter delivers patient from
lumber accident. Sister Honora
with back to camera.
Providence Yakima Medical Center
Yakima, Washington, 1964
L-R: Mary Bona, Lenora
Donovan Sisters showing an
incubator, perhaps a gift to the
hospital or purchased with
guild funds. Sr. Lenora
Donovan was a nursing
student from 1963-66.
Providence Everett Medical Center
Everett, Washington, 1965
Sister Odile Belval with
RN Nancy Walsh in the
pharmacy, 1924 building.
Providence Portland Medical Center
Portland, Oregon, 1969
Sister Alice Nevue in maternity ward.
Sister Alice made first vows in 1959.
St. Joseph’s Hospital
Chewelah, Washington, 2000
Providence Everett Medical Center
Everett, Washington, 1975
Sister Georgette Bayless
provides pastoral care.
Sacred Heart Hospital
Spokane, Washington,1990
Sr. Anne Marcelle
providing pastoral care.
Swedish Founder Dr. Nils Johanson
In 1908, Swedish immigrant Dr. Nils Johanson
moves to Seattle and sets up a surgery practice.
He becomes determined to build a hospital to meet
his high standards in sterile surgical conditions after
discovering Seattle hospitals lack in this regard.
Dr. Johanson recruits a group of fellow Swedes to
help realize his dream of providing Seattle with a
first-class nonprofit hospital; they set out to raise
$10,000 to found Swedish.
Swedish Hospital
Opens June 1, 1910
A lease is signed on a two-story apartment
house at 1733 Belmont Ave. in Seattle as the
location for the first Swedish Hospital and the
24-bed facility begins accepting patients.
Realizing that a skilled nursing staff is critical to
quality health care, Dr. Johanson establishes
the Swedish School of Nursing.
In 1913, the first class of five young women
graduates from the Swedish School of Nursing.
1912: Swedish Purchases
New Hospital
The new facility, located at Summit and
Columbia, will become the cornerstone
of Swedish Medical Center/First Hill.
Swedish Keeps Growing
In 1926, a seven-story addition increases
capacity to 200 beds, including a nursery
with 65 bassinets, and is furnished with
modern hospital equipment.
During the Great Depression, Swedish
perseveres in its commitment to serve
the community. The Tumor Institute opens
in 1932 as the first dedicated tumor
treatment center — and the first to provide
high-energy radiation therapy —
west of the Mississippi.
1926 Operating Room
1926 Private Patient Room
And Growing …
By 1975, with the addition of professional
office buildings and the area's first
independent day-surgery program, Swedish
grows to become a major medical center. In
1980, Doctors Hospital and Seattle General
Hospital close, merging with Swedish.
Ballard Community Hospital becomes a
valuable part of the Swedish system in
1992. Now known as Swedish Medical
Center/Ballard, it continues to play a vital
role in the North Seattle community.
Swedish/Ballard
Swedish Grows to Become Major Medical Center
Providence Seattle Medical Center,
founded by the Sisters of Providence,
also adds important expertise and
resources when it joins the Swedish
system in 2000. The Providence
location is now called Swedish Medical
Center/Cherry Hill.
Swedish/Cherry Hill
Swedish Grows in South Snohomish and
East King Counties
Swedish/Edmonds
Swedish/Issaquah