Sisters ofMercy Hospitals

Sisters of Mercy Hospitals

On June 24, 1895, Mater Misericordiae, the “Sisters* Hospital,” had opened its doors at 23rd between Q and R StreetsintheformerRidge Home. Thehome was donatedby Mrs. E.B. Crockerforthe care ofelderly women, andbecame Sacramento’sfirstfull-fledgedhospital. TheRidgeHomehad theinterestofDrs.HuntingtonandG.L.Simmons. Thelatter hadgoneeasttostudyattheHarvardMedicalSchool. Heand Dr. Huntington devoted much oftheir time to public health and community welfare in general. They had helped the Sisters ofMercy,attheirconventat9thandGStreets,totake over the Ridge Home.

Ridge Home, 23rd and R, opened 1887-1888, by Dr. G. L. Simmons. Later becamepart ofMaterMisericordiaeHospital. Courtesy Sister Mary Peter.

The hospital was run by 6 Sisters of Mercy, Mother SuperiorLigouri in charge. The Sistershad cometo “roaring camp” Sacramento originally by boat, on October 2, 1857, from San Francisco’s Saint Mary’s Hospital. They establishedschoolsforgirlsandboys,anorphanage, andaconvent. As the firstvisiting nurses in the area, they were especially valuable during the flood of 1862. Mother Superior Ligouri headed the religious community ofSisters, and Miss Louise Igo the nursingtraining school.

The Sisters’ Hospital rapidly outgrew its limited space and, onMay9,1897,anew structurewasopened, adjacentto the Ridge Home, adding30 beds and a surgery. Thehospital remained at the 23rd Street location until 1925 when the sistersopenedthe 150-bedMercyGeneralHospital on 7 acres ofland at40th andJ Streets.

The Mercy Children’sClinic was established in 1933 to careforunderprivilegedinfantsandchildren. MercyChildren’s Hospital — the first ofits kind in Northern California, was openedin 1950.TheeastwingofMercyGeneralHospital was added in 1954, extended care in 1963, and the Sister Mary

Mater Misericordiae Hospital (Mercy Hospital), 23rd and R, 1897, from “Sacramento Through the Camera,"by theRecordUnion.

Peter Pavilion in 1981. Mercy Hospital was expanded to 412 acute and 77 sub-acute beds by 1988.

The Sisters of Mercy continued to expand to outlying areas and in 1987 the local Mercyhospitals became part ofa 15-facilitysystem.CatholicHealthcareWest.(See“Suburban Hospitals” chapter on page 58.)44

Top: Mercy Hospital, 40th and J, 1930, Courtesy Sister Mary Peter; Bottom: Mercy Hospital, 40th andJ, 1980, aerial view.