A Rich and Colorful Story...
A History of the Sisters of Mercy and St. Elizabeth Community Hospital
1854-1857: Irish Sisters of Mercy arrive in California.
The Irish Sisters of Mercy arrived in San Francisco after a long and arduous journey across sea and land from Ireland to Sacramento. Around 1864 the Sisters established a convent in Omaha, Nebraska and made their way west. They divided into two sub-groups creating two Mercy regions, the Burlingame Sisters in San Francisco and the Auburn Sisters in the Sacramento region.
1871-1881: Sisters on the move: final destination…Red Bluff, California.
In the dead of winter 1871, seven Sisters began their journey to Yreka, California. Unfortunately, by the time the Sisters arrived in Yreka, the gold rush boom had turned to a bust and not even the good Sisters could spring life back into Yreka. The Sisters of Omaha were then transferred from Yreka to Red Bluff and opened the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy on March 3, 1882. During this period the Sisters’ hospital ministry began with a generous donation of dollars and land from Elizabeth Kraft, widow of Herbert Kraft, one of the largest landowners in the area.
1906-1916: St. Elizabeth Community Hospital; a landmark of health care.
On October 30, 1906, Elizabeth Kraft deeded the Old Duncan Robertson Residence to Bishop Thomas Grace with three stipulations: First, the property had to be used as a hospital; Second, the hospital had to be operated by the Sisters of Mercy; and, Third the name of the hospital would be St. Elizabeth.
Between October 1906 and September 1907, the building was renovated and suitably converted. The Red Bluff Daily News described the new hospital as “… one of the best hospitals north of Sacramento.” The first patient was registered in 1906.
During the evening of September 9, 1913, St. Elizabeth Hospital was destroyed by fire. The determined Sisters worked tirelessly to raise the money needed to rebuild, and Red Bluff business people helped their efforts. In 1916, a new brick and cement hospital was erected at a cost of $25,000 on the same site, i.e. the northwest corner of Sycamore and Main Streets. The new hospital was dedicated on May 28, 1916.
1978+: SECH moves to its’ new location.
To keep up with the growth of Red Bluff, a larger hospital was constructed two miles south of the original downtown hospital site in 1978. This hospital featured all-private rooms in a 76-bed facility, and it provided for the care of medical, surgical, obstetrical, pediatric, emergency and intensive care patients. It has extended services to provide special services for patients including CT scan, MRI, mammography, laser surgery, day surgery, EEG, EKG, home care, home pulmonary, durable medical equipment purchase and rental, ambulance service, nuclear medicine, physical, speech and respiratory therapies. This fully accredited hospital is staffed with approximately 100 physicians, over 300 skilled professional health care personnel, support staff and volunteers. It has become the central location of care for Tehama County.
1995+: St. Elizabeth becomes part of Catholic Healthcare West.
In 1995, the Sisters of Mercy, Omaha Regional Community, transferred sponsorship of St. Elizabeth to the Sisters of Mercy, Auburn Regional Community. This administrative change led the way for St. Elizabeth Community Hospital to merge with Mercy Medical Center and Mercy Mt. Shasta, thus creating Mercy Healthcare North.
Mercy Healthcare North is a division of Catholic Healthcare West. The organization was founded in 1986 and is now sponsored by seven different congregations of Sisters, including the Sisters of Mercy of Auburn.
Today into our future: Expansion, Access to Healthcare, State-of the Art Technology.
St. Elizabeth Community Hospital continuously grows to keep pace with the population growth of Tehama County. Within the last 5 years, St. Elizabeth has grown a considerable amount now offering a full service, state-of-the-art imaging center, which occupies the refurbished former Lassen Medical Group building. The imaging center provides digital mammography, a new MRI and TIM system, and provides separate women’s private dressing and waiting area, and a lab draw station.
In March of 2007, St. Elizabeth Community Hospital was notified that it has been selected to receive the Solucient 100 Top Hospitals: Benchmarks for Success 2006 Award. St. Elizabeth is one of only four California hospitals to reach this level of performance. The hospital is also noted for its excellence in joint replacement surgery, for which it has received the 2007 HealthGrades 5-Star rating in joint replacement surgery.
Looking forward, St. Elizabeth anticipates the need for increased services in surgery, ICU, CCU, and emergency room services. To provide greater access to healthcare, the hospital is actively pursuing recruitment of more physicians. With St. Elizabeth’s dedication to their mission for excellence in healthcare, they have designed a campus and building structure that can expand with the changing needs of the community.
Catherine McAuley, foundress of the Sisters of Mercy, once wrote, “God makes use of various means to further the accomplishments of his designs, some of which, if we had a choice in them, would not be according to our views…The means he makes use of, turn out to be most conducive to the work of the Almighty, eventually.” Sister Catherine knew from early on that she was not the designer of her future or that of her ministries. She would often say, “If the ministry is for my own purpose then let it die, but if for the Almighty then it will prosper accordingly.” This simple phrase has guided the works of the Sisters for over 175 years and has been witnessed in Tehama County since 1881.
