SSM Health Care

SSM Health Care is a health care system that owns, manages and is affiliated with 20 acute care hospitals and two nursing homes in Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin and Oklahoma.

It is sponsored by the Franciscan Sisters of Mary and based in St. Louis, Missouri. It is one of the largest Catholic systems in the country.

History of SSM Health Care

SSM Health Care traces its roots to 1872, when Mother Mary Odilia Berger and four other sisters came to St. Louis from Germany, after caring for sick and wounded soldiers during the Franco-Prussian War. Facing religious persecution in Germany, they came to the United States. When they arrived in St. Louis they began providing nursing care to people in their own homes. That winter, when a smallpox epidemic hit St. Louis, the sisters cared for the sick and dying. For a short time, people referred to them as the Smallpox Sisters. In 1874, the congregation received its formal name: the Sisters of St. Mary (SSM).

Most of the health care facilities that today belong to SSM Health Care were previously part of a group of hospitals owned by the Sisters of St. Mary and centrally governed, but not centrally managed. In the mid-1980s, the sponsoring congregation decided to reorganize its hospitals into a system of centrally managed health care providers, and SSM Health Care was created in 1986. Today the system is managed by a team of professionals -- both lay and religious -- and governed by members of the sponsoring congregation as well as by laypersons from the communities served by its facilities.

About SSM Health Care

Headquarters
*St. Louis, Missouri

Locations
*Missouri
*Wisconsin
*Illinois
*Oklahoma

Employees
*24,000

Physicians
*More than 5,000

Mission Statement
*Through our exceptional health care services, we reveal the healing presence of God

Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award

In 2002, SSM Health Care became the first health care organization in history to receive the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the nation's highest award for quality.

SSM Health Care Facilities

Missouri

* SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Health Center (located in St. louis City)"'
* SSM DePaul Health Center (Located in Bridgeton, MO)
* SSM St. Mary's Health Center (Located in Richmond Heights, MO)
* SSM St. Joseph Health Center (Located in St. Charles, MO)
* SSM St. Joseph Hospital West (Located in Lake Saint Louis, MO)
* SSM St. Joseph Hospital of Kirkwood (Located in Kirkwood, MO)
* SSM St. Clare Health Center (located in Fenton, Mo.) - coming spring 2009
* SSM Rehab (In-patient and out-patient facilities located throughout the St. Louis Region)
* St. Francis Hospital and Health Services (Located in Maryville, MO)
* St. Mary's Health Center (Located in Jefferson City, MO)

Wisconsin

*St. Clare Hospital and Health Services (Located in Baraboo)
*St. Clare Meadows Care Center (Located in Baraboo)
*St. Mary's Care Center (Located in Madison)
*St. Mary's Hospital (Located in Madison)
*Columbus Community Hospital (Located in Columbus)
*Stoughton Hospital (Located in Stoughton)
*New Janesville hospital coming in 2010

Illinois

*Good Samaritan Regional Health Center (Located in Mount Vernon)
*St. Mary's Hospital (Located in Centralia)

Oklahoma

*Bone and Joint Hospital (Located in Oklahoma City)
*St. Anthony Hospital (Located in Oklahoma City)

Resources

* [http://www.ssmhc.com/ SSM Health Care Web Site]
* [http://www.fsmonline.org/ Franciscan Sisters of Mary Web Site]