St. Mary’s Hospital

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January 12, 2008

St. Mary’s Hospital

Anonymous The Enid News and Eagle Sat Jan 12, 2008, 11:49 PM CST

History of St. Mary’s

• In 1914 Doctor G.A. Boyle founded the hospital by turning the Bath House into a 12-bed hospital. It was called Government Springs Sanitorium. After a year of operation, Dr. T.B. Hinson joined Boyle in the health care venture.

• To ease the shortage of nurses, the physicians received the cooperation of Enid High in establishing a school for training young girls in this profession. The patient load increased.

• In 1921 Boyle resigned because of ill health and left Hinson as sole owner. Dr. F.M. Duffy joined the staff.

• Little change was made to the operation when the facility was purchased by the Adorers of the Precious Blood from Wichita, Kan., at the suggestion of Duffy. Sister Aloysia Barthlene was the first administrator. She, along with other sisters, began operating the hospital on June 1, 1937.

Later, more sisters were sent to assist with caring of the patients. These sisters entered the school of nursing that had been established by Boyle and Hinson.

• Each year more sisters entered the nursing school for training and at one point there were some 35 sisters with student nurses that operated the hospital. The sisters occupied Hinson’s home across the street from the hospital.

• In 1938, Hinson died from a blood clot after a hip fracture. The front porch on the hospital soon was remodeled and the title of the hospital was changed to St. Mary’s Springs Hospital.

• As time went on, the patient load increased and more doctors joined the staff. It became necessary in 1941 to add a wing on the south side which increased the capacity to a 75-bed hospital.

• In 1949, a polio epidemic occurred. The only hospital that was equipped to take polio patients was Children’s Hospital in Oklahoma City. Soon they were at capacity and unable to take any more patients. St. Mary’s trained nurses and provided iron lungs and other needed equipment which enabled them to take the overflow. One hundred sixteen patients were treated that summer. There was another outbreak in 1952 and some 100 more patients were treated that summer.

• The nursing school was closed in 1951 for lack of instructors. It was reopened again in 1971 with Phillips University providing instructors. The program was terminated again in 1973.

• The building was devastated by floods in 1947, 1957 and 1973.

• In 1985, the Precious Blood Community leased the hospital to Universal Health Services Inc. for a limited time. The Mercy Sisters Cooperation of St. Louis purchased the hospital from Precious Blood Community in 1995.

• In 2000, Universal Health Services Inc. bought the facility.

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