History of St. Cloud Hospital - St. Raphael's Hospital

St. Raphael's Hospital

By 1889, the sisters needed a larger facility, away from the bustle of the city and nearby railroad tracks. The sisters received a donation of five acres on the east side of the Mississippi River from a local realty firm, Coates and Freeman. Prominent local citizens encouraged the sisters accept the land, assuring them that roads and a bridge across the river would be built, giving patients access to the facility. On May 30, 1890, the new St. Raphael's Hospital opened.

However, the bridge and roads never materialized. Crossing the river by boat and finding a horse and buggy for the final miles on rutted trails proved prohibitive. Only 94 patients were treated during the first year. After struggling to keep the hospital open, the sisters decided to return to Ninth Avenue. In 1900, next to the first St. Benedict's Hospital, they built another hospital, St. Raphael's, which was a modest four-story brick structure for 50 patients. A fire in 1905 gutted the top two floors, but the sisters quickly rebuilt.

In 1907, a new state law required nurses to have certification. In 1908, the sisters opened the School of Nursing at the hospital, and in 1911, the first nurses — five sisters and three lay women — received their first nursing diplomas.