For many years, Sacramento has been recognized for its fine hospital facilities, which have provided a wide variety of medical services for the sick and injured.

Sacramento’s First Hospital
The arrival of this longtime status has its roots in the founding of the area’s first hospital, which was established in an adobe building at Sutter’s Fort in July 1849.

A year later, a greater need for hospitalization occurred when the city experienced its first epidemic, as hundreds of people in Sacramento lost their lives to cholera.

With few physicians living in the city at the time, Sacramento was unprepared to handle such a widespread, deadly disease.

Among the local physicians, who provided their assistance with this month-long epidemic, was Dr. John F. Morse, who operated his small, private practice at 3rd and K streets.

Less than three months following the Nov. 17, 1850 announcement that cholera was no longer present in the city, Morse was at the helm of another important project, the birth of The Sacramento Daily Union, later called The Sacramento Union.

Sacramento County Hospital
While serving as the first editor of The Union, which first published on March 19, 1851, Morse led The Union’s efforts in supporting the Odd Fellow and Masonic lodges’ campaign to earn sufficient funds through the sale of subscriptions to purchase land for a free, county hospital.

As a result of this campaign, the property was purchased and the hospital opened near Sutter’s Fort on May 3, 1851. This hospital was destroyed by fire in 1854 and replaced by a new structure, which operated at 10th and L streets until 1866.

According to the April 1934 edition of the Western Hospital Review, three county hospitals were built on Stockton Boulevard within a 59-year period with the first being constructed in 1870, the second in 1879 and the third, a pavilion-style hospital with various buildings connected by porches and tunnels, being built in 1929.

On Oct. 25, 1962, the county hospital opened as the much-larger Sacramento Medical Center, which included a medical and nursing teaching center affiliated with UC Davis’ school of medicine.

Railroad Hospitals
Another early Sacramento hospital, the Central Pacific Hospital, opened in about 1870 at 13th and C streets, where it operated until about 1900, when it was destroyed by fire.

The Southern Pacific Co. Hospital, which was located at 8th and F streets in the former residence of Charles Crocker, operated from 1900 to 1911.

The following year, a new railroad hospital just west of the Southern Pacific’s passenger station, replaced the 8th and F streets structure at a cost of about $40,000.

Mercy General Hospital
Also adding to the rich history of Sacramento’s hospitals is Mercy General Hospital, which was originally known as the Mater Misericordiae Hospital.

The first site of this hospital was constructed on Q Street, between 22nd and 23rd streets on a half-block of property, which was purchased with a mortgage note for $12,000.

The local Sisters of Mercy, who operated a Catholic school in the basement of the St. Rose’s Church at 7th and K streets, had begun visiting the sick in Sacramento in 1857.

This service led to the establishment of a 15-bed sanitarium in 1895, followed by the completion of the 30-bed Mater Misericordiae Hospital two years later.

As a result of the influenza epidemic of 1918, the hospital expanded to 90 beds.

A year later, the Sisters purchased a seven-acre dairy site, which was used for the construction of a much larger hospital at 40th and J streets, where Mercy General Hospital operates today.

Shelly King, marketing communications manager at Mercy General Hospital, said that keeping the Sisters of Mercy’s tradition alive, while adding new technology, is essential to the progress of Mercy’s modern-day hospital system.

“The sisters’ tradition of healing with compassion lives on at Mercy General today,” King said. “We offer a high tech with a high touch here, so we have kept the tradition of healing and really the ministry of the sisters’ mission alive, while bringing in the technology and the new services that are available today.”

White Hospital
Constructed at a cost of about $90,000, Sacramento received another one of its early hospitals on Jan. 12, 1910, when Dr. John L. White, a former director of the county hospital, opened the White Hospital at 29th and J streets.

Despite White’s death in 1917, his wife continued to operate the hospital, which served the city of Sacramento and nearby parts of the county until 1924.

Sutter Hospitals
Sutter hospitals have also played a large role in the city’s history.

The first of these hospitals opened under the direction of its chief of the medical staff, Dr. J.W. James, at 28th and L streets on Dec. 3, 1923 and was notable as the city’s first fireproof hospital.

In 1937, Sutter added a maternity hospital at 52nd and F streets, where today’s Sutter Memorial Hospital now stands. Sutter Memorial, which incorporated Sutter Maternity, was dedicated on Oct. 27, 1957.

Tom Gagen, CEO of Sutter Medical Center in Sacramento, said that the Sutter organization is in the process of phasing out Sutter Memorial by 2011 and extensively expanding its 28th and L streets site.

“We are in the process of building a state-of-the-art medical community at our original midtown site that will include an extensive remodel of Sutter General Hospital and the construction of the 242-bed Anderson Lucchetti Women’s and Children’s Center,” Gagen said. “These two acute-care facilities will be seamlessly connected across L Street by a three-story spanning structure. When they open in 2011, Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento will provide the most comprehensive and integrated health care under one roof in the region, if not the state.”

Methodist Hospital
Another Sacramento hospital, Methodist Hospital, opened in 1973 with its twofold mission to “provide hospital services and emergency services for residents of south Sacramento County and to be a catalyst for efforts and activities, which meet the broader health needs of residents of the area.”

Having served millions of people since its opening, the hospital, which is located at 7500 Hospital Drive, continues its growth today as part of Catholic Healthcare West, the western United States’ largest Catholic healthcare system.

Shriners Hospital
One of the city’s newest hospitals is the Shriners Hospitals for Children Northern California, which opened at 2425 Stockton Blvd. in April 1997.

The hospital is supported entirely by private donations and provides care free-of-charge to children with orthopedic conditions, spinal cord injuries, burns and scars from any cause.

Catherine Curran, Shriners Hospitals for Children Northern California director of public relations, said that the placement of a Shriners Hospital in Sacramento has helped to further the hospital’s mission.

“More than 36,000 children’s lives have been transformed by the specialized pediatric care provided by Shriners Hospitals for Children Northern California,” Curran said. “Since 1922, Shriners Hospitals for Children has remained true to its mission to provide children with the gift of free care.”

Prescription for Participation
Although this report certainly does not cover all of the many hospitals that have assisted the people of Sacramento from the 19th to 21st centuries, including Kaiser Permanente, Alhambra, Wentworth and Victory hospitals to name but a few, it does give a general overview of a great deal of the city’s most prominent hospitals. To share additional information about Sacramento hospitals, past or present, write to Lance Armstrong at .