St Vincent Medical Center

Name :

St Vincent Medical Center

Address  :

1 Shircliff Way

Town  :

Jacksonville

State  :

Florida

Country  :

USA

Post Code:

32204

Phone  :

904 308 7300

Fax  :

904 308 7573

Web URL  :

Available

Email  :

dhodgins@stvincentshealth.com

Description

St Vincents Medical Center SVMC is a 528bed comprehensive acute care hospital It was founded by the Daughters of Charity in 1916 and is part of St Vincents HealthCare and Ascension Health the largest nonprofit health system in the United States as well as the largest Catholic hospital system in the United States

SVMC is widely recognized for excellence in patient care and has received numerous accolades from Health Grades as well as US News and World Report

History

On May 1 2007 St Vincents HealthCare will mark 91 Years of Care provided to the community

From a sanitorium in Springfield to the current properties located in Riverside Orange Park and other parts of Jacksonville SVHC has come a long way in just a matter of 91 years

In 1916 when the first Daughters of Charity took over the DeSoto Sanitorium on 5th and Boulevard streets it was one of the first hospitals in Jacksonville third as a matter of fact The 42beds have grown to more than 500 today with the anticipation of even more as SVHC makes plans to operate the newlyacquired St Lukes in the upcoming years

91 Years Of Caring
From a sanitorium in Springfield to the current properties located in Riverside Southside and Clay County St Vincents HealthCare has come a long way in just a matter of 91 years

In 1916 when the first Daughters of Charity took over the DeSoto Sanitorium on 5th and Boulevard streets it was one of the first hospitals in Jacksonville Several physicians businessmen and clergy including Bishop Michael J Curley of the Diocese of St Augustine asked the Sisters of Charity to buy and manage the hospital Back then Jacksonville had a population of about 80000 and about a 10th were Catholic

Shortly after arriving in Jacksonville the Daughters of Charity found themselves in the influenza epidemic of 1917 that kept the Sisters busy for quite a while In 1919 St Vincents opened the School of Nursing

Shortly afterward plans were made to build a larger hospital on the west bank of the St Johns River in Riverside In 1928 patients were moved from Springfield into the new 1 million 200bed hospital St Vincents Administrator and a group of 18 women mostly doctors wives formed the St Vincents Auxiliary Through card parties and food and rummage sales the Auxiliary managed to supply St Vincents with solariums a new bulkhead Christmas baskets for the poor a Doctors call system and a suction fan for the Operating Room between 1928 and 1940

In 1939 St Vincents was accepted in the American Hospital Association And in 1942 St Vincents Nursing School played a role in World War II The entire graduating class of the School of Nursing entered into the Army Cadet Nurse Program In all 67 St Vincents graduates served in the Nursing Corps

Building the structure that stands today involved several creative and talented minds Construction to build the West Wing began after World War II increasing the beds to 365 In 1968 construction for the power plant Maintenance and Housekeeping departments and the catheterization labs began

St Vincents Hospital became St Vincents Medical Center in 1972 The 70s were marked with the closing of St Vincents Nursing School and the opening of the new Medical Core Building operating and emergency rooms The Dillon Professional Building opened in the late 70s

The 1980s brought the renovation of the East Center and West Wings the DePaul Building and Garage and the first Ambulatory Care or Primary Care Centers As Riverside and Jacksonville grew so did St Vincents It bought Riverside Hospital in 1991 and built a new St Catherine Laboure Manors complex on Stockton Street in 1992

In 1995 St Vincents joined Baptist Health System to become BaptistSt Vincents Health System By 1996 Baptist St Vincents closed Riverside Hospital and had built another garage the King Street Garage St Vincents Medical Center was named among the Top 100 medical centers in the country in 1994 1995 and 1996 And in 1997 St Catherines won the prestigious Step One American Hospital Care Associations Quality Award Then in 1999 St Vincents was named among one of the Top 100 Cardiovascular Hospitals by the HCIA

When Baptist St Vincents announced the two systems would separate governance in 2000 St Vincents had the opportunity to rebuild some of the individualism that sustained it during 84 years

Associates gave a major vote of support for the future of St Vincents In a matter of six short weeks in 2001 St Vincents associates pledge more than 1 million for the construction of new Heart and Cancer centers The associate support of the project helped convince the public to help fund the 20 million Building A Healthier Community project

Since then St Vincents has added a new Heart amp Vascular Center a new Cancer Center and the new Family Medicine Center which houses the Family Practice Residency Program to provide medical training to physicians In addition the River house is under construction on King Street and will be home to a Spirituality Center as well as guest suites for patients families

The cardiovascular program at St Vincents is the largest in an area stretching from Atlanta to Orlando Physicans at St Vincents often are mong the first in the region to perform some of the most advanced surgeries and treatments for heart and vascular disease The Women amp Heart program was recognized in 2004 with a visit from First Lady Laura Bush as part of her efforts to promote heightened awareness of heart disease amongh women

In 2005 St Vincents opened the Debbie Gottlieb Center for Nursing Excellence The center is funded in part through funds from the St Vincents Foundations Red Rose Ball through endowments provided by Debbie Gottlieb and her husband Mel The center provides an environment for professional development and clinical growth of nurses through nursing internship offering continuing nursing education programs and advanced clinical programs that include national speakers invited to the Gottlieb Center

In 2006 St Vincents opened the Spine amp Brain Institute which offers comprehensive services neurosurgery and neurological problems

St Vincents continues to be recognized by local and national organizations for the excellent care provided by its physicians and staff The prestigious USNewsamp World Report has twice named St Vincents among the Top 10 percent of hospitals in the US for Clinical Excellence for the last two years and JD Power has named it a quotDistinguished Hospitalquot for outstanding customer service for two years in a row These awards and others and make St Vincents quotWhere The Experts Carequot

In Jacksonville St Lukes is the only other hospital that has survived as long In 2005 St Vincents purchased St Lukes and plan to assume operations there by 2008

Kim Deppe Candy Bowen James Ward Julie Pickren St Vincents Auxiliary and the writings of Marian J Rust contributed to this article