Mills-Peninsula Health Servs

Description

MillsPeninsula Health Services a notforprofit corporation with approximately 2500 employees operates two community health facilities with a total of 403 inpatient beds

Sutter Affiliate
MillsPeninsula Health Services is an affiliate of Sutter Health one of the largest notforprofit health organizations in Northern California

Peninsula Medical Center
The Peninsula Medical Center in Burlingame is an acutecare facility

Mills Health Center
Mills Health Center in San Mateo provides a wide range of outpatient services including surgery rehabilitation and diagnostics It also is home to MillsPeninsulas inpatient rehabilitation program

Serving San Mateo County
We are a health care organization with deep roots in San Mateo County Mills Health Center founded by prominent Californian Elizabeth Mills Reid opened in 1908 in San Mateo with six beds Peninsula Medical Center developed through creation of a public hospital district opened its doors four miles north in Burlingame in 1954

Financial Assistance Available
MillsPeninsula Health Services provides financial assistance for lowincome people who do not have health insurance

MISSION

We are dedicated to preserving and improving the health of San Mateo County residents We deliver excellent service and care with compassion and respect By providing education for disease prevention and management we empower people to take a greater role in their own health and wellness Furthermore we are committed to maintaining a stable financial base

VISION

To meet or exceed the realistic expectations of all our customers patients physicians payers by providing a competent attentive respectful and efficient team of employees physicians and managers whose primary focus is our patients

VALUES

Acknowledge understandaccept and respond sensitively to patients physicians and employees

Create an environment where employees and physicians can develop their potential for work satisfaction and contribution to the organization and community

To be known by the following characteristics

Culturally Aware of the different values traditions languageslifestyles and expectations of our patients and fellow employees

Attentive to the medical and personal needs of our patients their families and our coworkers

Respectful of the individual and alternative modes of treatment and healing and treat all individuals with dignity and fairness Communication is open honest and based upon the interest level of the individual

Empathetic to others experiences conditions and healing processes

History

1905 There were no hospitals or emergency facilities of any kind anywhere on the Peninsula between San Francisco and Palo Alto In the wake of the 1906 earthquake the need for medical facilities was clear many people who fled the flames of San Francisco found the countryside of San Mateo County inviting and the population experienced a boom

Recognizing the need heiress and philanthropist Elisabeth Mills Reid with the rector of the Episcopal Church of St Matthew Rev Neptune Blood William Gallwey and an ambitious young doctor named WC Chidester pledged funds to build and operate on the Church of St Matthew property an emergency medical facility that would also house a parish nurse

1907 The planned modest facility quickly expanded to a small hospital which was dedicated in 1907 by the Rev William Ford Nichols Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese to quotmeet the needs of suffering humanity irrespective of religious or racial affiliationsquot

1909 The sixpatient facility which included surgery and maternity rooms was staffed by three nurses one served as both head nurse and surgical nurse and the two others rotated 12hour shifts Its name was Church of St Matthew Red Cross Guild although it had no formal connection with the church or the Red Cross

By February the facility had expanded to accommodate 24 patients with 24 nurses employed The nurses combined salaries totaled 531550 for the first year

The general medical list included everything from alcoholism to tuberculosis as well as two typhoid patients 13 pneumonia cases one of malaria one of morphomania and one poor soul who went down in the permanent hospital record as suffering from quotmalingeringquot

In the mid1910s Mrs Reid was convinced by the Board of Directors that the name of the hospital should be changed to Mills Memorial Hospital although Mrs Reid saw to it that Church of St Matthew preceded the new name

Through the 1920s additions such as Xray machines and expansion and improvement in the emergency room were made staff added and private duty nurses were used for athome care

1928 The East Wing was built adding 124 beds and a 28bed maternity section

An annual report from the mid1920s shows hospital receipts of 96837 and operating expenses of 107413 while the annual report of 1910 shows 26514 in operating expenses

In War and Peace 1940 1979

In 1947 Robert J Koshland was appointed a Director of the Peninsula Hospital District which was given the task of developing and opening a new hospital in San Mateo County Mr Koshland was unanimously elected Board President a position he held for 16 years He was one of the foremost experts on hospital financing and policy in the nation Mr Koshland retired in 1963 leaving Peninsula as the largest hospital in San Mateo County

1950 Mills Hospital was again expanded this time with the addition of the West Wing bringing the total number of beds to 151 But for the burgeoning communities of San Mateo County in the postwar boom one hospital in one city did not meet the demand for quality health care

1954 On March 2 Peninsula Hospital opened in Burlingame After two and half years of construction Peninsula opened with 153 beds 275 employees 400 Auxilians 100 physicians and surgeon staff members Peninsula Hospital was built on the former site of Elisabeth Mills Reids family home the Mills Mansion for which Millbrae was named

The average cost of stay in a fourbed ward was 1750 per day a twobed room was 1850 per day and a private room was 25 a day

One of the first employees hired by Peninsula Hospital was chief seamstress Evelyn Steele who sewed 5000 articles for the hospital use from 2400 yards of material She made sheets patient gowns Auxiliary uniforms smocks drapes cubical curtains and 390 doubledstitched surgical leggings

To be ready for the first patients the laundry facility using a washer that could handle up to 350 pounds washed 710 dozen sheets pillow slips towels wash cloths bathmats and other items and then rewashed them all five more times to eliminate any lint

1960 The 5th 6th 7th and 8th floors were added bringing the bed total to 374

Peninsula Hospital changed its name to Peninsula Hospital and Medical Center

1978 Peninsula affiliated with the University of California San Francisco to establish a Cardiovascular Surgery program at the hospital

1979 Peninsula celebrated its 25year anniversary and signed a joint planning agreement with Mills Memorial Hospital

The Perfect Union 1980 2007
In 1985 Mills and Peninsula signed a merger agreement to form MillsPeninsula Hospitals and embarked on the planning that would carry their commitment to the best in community health care into the 21st century

1993 Senior Focus Wellness Center opened in downtown San Mateo

1996 Peninsula campus became MillsPeninsula Medical Center and inpatient care was consolidated there The Mills campus became the Mills Health Center a comprehensive outpatient care center

The Mack E Mickelson Arthritis and Rehabilitation Center opened at the Health Center in San Mateo

Family Birth Center opened at the Medical Center in Burlingame
MillsPeninsula joined Sutter Health a notforprofit system of 27 hospitals in Northern and Central California

1997 The expanded Emergency Department at the Medical Center opened in Burlingame The Wellness Center moved to the Health Center Campus in San Mateo

1998 The Primary Care Doctors Office for Seniors opened in San Carlos

Newly remodeled Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit opened at the Health Center in San Mateo

New expanded Outpatient Surgery Center opened at the Health Center in San Mateo