Benedictine Sisters and Duluth Clinic physicians lay foundation for health care

When a small group of Benedictine Sisters opened the doors of St. Mary’s Hospital in 1888, they didn’t know what the future held for them. They were simply following the call of St. Benedict to care for the sick and the call of an abbott who saw a need in a city at the edge of the wilderness.

Led by Mother Scholastica Kerst, the Sisters opened St. Mary’s Hospital on Feb. 2, 1888, in a four-story building at 20th Avenue West and West

Third Street. Working with physicians and nurses, the Sisters laid the foundation for Catholic health care in Duluth. Just 10 years later, they opened a new 200-bed hospital at Fifth Avenue East and East Third Street. By 1898, Duluth had the largest and best-equipped hospital north of the Twin Cities.

But the Sisters’ pioneering spirit and ministry extended beyond the walls of their hospital. To generate income, they offered one of the first health insurance policies.

Continued on page 38

Sister Amata Mackett became known as “Sister Lumberjack” for her visits to logging camps across the Northland to sell $1 to $5 insurance tickets that guaranteed loggers hospital care if they were injured or ill.

At the turn of the 20th century, Duluth was a rapidly growing city of 88,000 that drew dozens of physicians to start small or solo practices.

In 1915, Dr. Edward Tuohy proposed a radical idea – that he and four other specialists come together to create a multispecialty practice. Such an idea was almost unheard of in America but the

Mayo brothers in Dr. Tuohy’s hometown of Rochester were trying it.

The Duluth Clinic was founded by Dr. Tuohy, a pathologist; Dr. William Coventry, an obstetrician; Dr. John Winter, an ear, nose and throat specialist; Dr. Oliver W. Rowe, a pediatrician; and Dr. T. Leete Chapman, a surgeon. The founders’ vision was to better serve patients by collaborating on their care. They also committed themselves to improving the lives of their patients and the community they served.

Throughout the 20th century, St. Mary’s Hospital and the Duluth Clinic relied on one another and grew together. In 1997, the two entities came together as the St. Mary’s Duluth Clinic Health System. It was the first time in the United States that a Catholic-sponsored hospital affiliated with a secular medical practice. By 2008, the health system had grown and evolved again into Essentia Health.

Today, Essentia Health is an integrated health system serving communities in Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota. It has 13 hospitals, 69 clinics, six long-term care facilities, three assisted living facilities, three independent living facilities, five ambulance services and a research institute.

The legacy of the Duluth Clinic’s founders and the Benedictine Sisters of St. Scholastica Monastery lives on in Essentia Health’s 14,500 employees and their mission: “We are called to make a healthy difference in people’s lives. u