Sacred Heart Hospital

The primary purpose is to provide a structure and the means whereby the Hospital Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis can continue their apostolic mission to serve the sick, aged, poor and terminally ill without regard to race, color, creed or national origin. The primary concern of Sacred Heart Hospital and the Hospital Sisters is the patient's well-being - spiritual, physical, psychological and social.

Our vision began over 120 years ago on October 7, 1889, when two Hospital Sisters of Saint Francis came from their Motherhouse in Springfield, Illinois to Eau Claire. Their work in establishing the first hospital began in the residence of Mrs. J. Fitzpatrick, located in the 100 block of Putnam Street. In the following spring, a new three-story building was erected on the northeast hill facing north Dewey Street, with accommodations for 50 patients.

The new hospital served 275 patients in the first year. It grew to meet community needs; the total patients in the following year increased to 422, for 9,903 days of nursing care. By 1901, the patient load reached 666 for 16,972 days of care. As new area physicians added demand for hospital care, a second unit of the hospital was built in 1912 and a west wing, which enlarged the institution to 160 beds. The hospital then had its special entrance for patients arriving by horse-drawn ambulance. This addition also provided a major surgery facility with the latest equipment for the administrations of ether and nitrous oxide anesthetics. Sun parlors for convalescing patients and more rooms for patients were included.

An entirely new activity began in August 1917, with the opening of a School of Nursing. The first class, totaling seven, graduated on August 26, 1920. The school continued to grow and in 1924 an addition was constructed.

In 1926, a gift of $100,000 from Mrs. Mary Dulaney made possible the construction of a new wing, with 120 additional beds. Further gifts from Mrs. Dulaney in the early 1930s made it possible for the Hospital Sisters to remodel the original building as well as to complete the maternity and children's section.

By 1937, the School of Nursing established in 1917, had to be discontinued in favor of enlarged technical departments due to advances in radiology, pathology and bacteriology. From 1926 to 1952, the annual number of patients grew nearly 150%, to a total of 8,327 persons receiving 64,327 days of care. New developments in physiotherapy demanded additional space for beds.

Overcrowded conditions made it imperative that a new hospital be built. Sacred Heart Hospital, having twice outgrown its physical capacity due to expanded services, opened a new era in 1962. Sister Clarine, Administrator, responding to local advice, acquired the excellent site on Clairemont Avenue. On June 29, 1962, Reverend Mother M. Odilia, O.S.F., Mother General of the Hospital Sisters of Saint Francis, came from Munich, in Westphalia, Germany, to turn the first spade of earth at the ground-breaking for the $12,000,000 Sacred Heart Hospital of Eau Claire. Most significant was the support for this project demonstrated by the Eau Claire community, which organized to provide more than $800,000 to supplement federal and borrowed funds to create the modern facility. An open house was held at the completed structure on November 13, 1964, and the Hospital was formally dedicated on December 6, 1964. It was the 75th anniversary of the founding of Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire.

Patients and personnel moved into the new facility on December 14, 1964, without a single unhappy incident. Twenty-four Sisters in a variety of positions were on the Hospital staff during this period.

Sacred Heart: Monument to the Work of Many Hands Long is the list of Sisters, physicians, nurses, technologists, aides, workers, and volunteers who share ownership of Sacred Heart's heritage of care, and to whom current and future generations are deeply indebted. There have been dedicated administrators, chaplains, nurses, physicians, surgeons, generous donors, volunteers and thousands of employees who ultimately made it all happen. Without them, the Eau Claire community would have been deprived. Because of them, Eau Claire is a better home for all of us. They are known to Him Who rewards in fullest measure. They have also laid the foundations on which we, to whom the future is entrusted, must continue to build.

The reassuring, consoling presence of Sacred Heart in our community cannot be taken for granted. Just as many hands carried on Sacred Heart's mission in the past, so, too, will many hands be called on to carry forward its spirits and help preserve its heritage of care in the future. Part and parcel of regional Eau Claire, Sacred Heart Hospital is pledged, with the help of its friends, to hear and respond, to see need and provide, to safeguard and to share the heritage of care which is its legacy. Our hospital's rich history is featured on our hospital's Heritage Wall, which is on permanent display near our Atrium on the first floor.

Our mission is to be there for other people when they run into difficult and exceptional situations in their lives. We will provide quality and cost-effective helathcare for the Chippewa Valley in partnership with others while maintaining the tradition and values of the Hospital Sisters. We at Sacred Heart Hospital provide compassionate care that brings HOPE, HEALTH & WHOLENESS to those we serve by honoring the sacredness of all persons at every stage of life. We are rooted in the healing ministry of the Catholic church as we continue the mission of the Hospital Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis.