HSHS St. John's Hospital is celebrating 150 years of service by the Hospital Sisters, whose mission has always been to care for the sick and the poor. In November 1875, five Hospital Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis arrived from Germany at the request of Bishop Peter Joseph Baltes of the Diocese of Alton to provide health care to the residents of Springfield. This marked the birth of HSHS St. John's Hospital, which is Springfield's first hospital and the flagship of Hospital Sisters Health System.
"All St. John's colleagues are committed to continuing that mission by caring for the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of our patients," said Mary Massingale, system manager of communications and public relations. St. John's plays a vital part in the community and wider region by generating more than 4,700 jobs and contributing an overall economic impact of $1.5 billion in payroll, supplies, services and capital in 2024 alone, according to the Illinois Health and Hospital Association.
Throughout the years, HSHS has continued to transform to meet the changing needs of patients. It is now home to St. John's Children's Hospital with a level III neonatal intensive care unit, Women and Infants Center with a level III perinatal center, Neuroscience Center, Women and Children's Clinic, Cancer Care, a Regional Wound Care Center and orthopedics. In addition, Prairie Cardiovascular, the Midwest's largest provider of heart and vascular services with more than 100 providers, began here and now serves patients across five regions and as far south as Carbondale.
More recently, HSHS has continued to add to its list of accomplishments, including the addition of an open MRI imaging system to improve the experience for patients with claustrophobia while also providing shortened scan times. HSHS St. John's Hospital Community Pharmacy became a registered Drug Take Back site with the Drug Enforcement Administration, providing community members with a free and safe way to dispose of unused or expired prescription and nonprescription medicines. The Ronald McDonald hospitality cart has returned to St. John's Children's Hospital and offers added comfort and care to children, their siblings and parents during their stay in the hospital.
As one of the Springfield area's largest employers, HSHS strives to provide opportunities for its employees to continue to develop their skills and advance in their careers. This year, HSHS colleagues have access to expanded tuition reimbursement through the Resources & Education for the Advancement of Colleagues program. REACH allows colleagues to learn in-demand skills and gain career advancement without the burden of upfront tuition. More than 1,000 courses are available online.
"Through programs like REACH and others, we are developing the clinical caregivers of the future," Allison Paul, chief nursing officer said. "It is important to us to empower our colleagues and remove barriers to education to allow them to continue to achieve success. We are additionally blessed to have St. John's College of Nursing, the oldest Catholic hospital-based school of nursing in the United States, right here in our community."
"We connect our core values of care, respect, competence and joy to every aspect of our operations to create the best possible environment for our colleagues, providers and patients," Chad Markham, chief operating officer and interim chief executive officer, said. "There is a commitment to one another that our colleagues have, and it has been noted by many outside of our organization who walk through our doors."
Markham added that the hospital's primary focus remains its patients and ensuring the level of high-quality care and services the community has come to expect.
"We are strategically focused on continuing our health care mission in the Springfield region for the next 150 years with our dedicated colleagues and providers," he said.