Our Heritage Stories

Providence St. Vincent Medical CenterPortland, 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 CenterYakima, Washington, 1900

The first home of St. Elizabeth.

Sacred Heart Medical CenterSpokane, Washington, 2002

Providence Seattle Medical CenterSeattle, Washington, 1900

Patient receiving anesthesia prior to surgery.

Holy Cross HospitalNome, Alaska,1903

Storefront building that housed Holy Cross Hospital.

Providence Everett Medical CenterEverett, 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 CenterMedford, Oregon, 1920

Sister and nurse apply bandages to a patient.

Holy Family Hospital Spokane, Washington, 2000

Providence Yakima Medical CenterYakima, Washington, 1924

Providence Seattle Medical CenterSeattle, Washington, 1930

Mount Carmel HospitalColville, Washington, 2000

Providence St. Peter HospitalOlympia, Washington, 1924

L-R: Dr. Wickman, Ana Reinhart; Sr. Oliver, Dr. Mowell, Dr. Redpath, Mary Reinhart, Mrs. Mosbaugh (patient)

Deer Park HospitalDeer Park, Washington, 2000

Holy Cross Hospital Nome, Alaska, 1905

Providence St. Vincent Medical CenterPortland, 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 CenterSeattle, Washington, 1950

Mother and newborn at Providence Seattle. Sr. Cecile was a maternity nurse at the hospital from 1950-1958.

Providence HospitalOakland, California, 1950

Emergency Department

St. Joseph Medical CenterPolson, 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 HospitalMissoula, 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 CenterEverett, 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.

1926 Private Patient Room

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

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