Lourdes Health System - Lourdes Health System History

Lourdes Health System History

Southern New Jersey experienced a rapid growth in population immediately preceding and during World War II. Many of the new residents were Catholic, and their fast influx demanded the formation of new parishes and facilities. In the early 1940s, Bishop Bartholomew J. Eustace invited the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany to build a hospital in the Diocese of Camden. Bishop Eustace knew of the Sisters when they cared for his mother during her final years at their hospital, St. Elizabeth’s, in New York City.

In December 1945, the Dominican Sisters of the Perpetual Rosary agreed to sell a portion of their property at Haddon Avenue and Euclid Street in Camden to the Third Order Regular of St. Francis of Allegany, New York for the construction of a hospital. Construction began in September 1947, with Bishop Eustace laying the cornerstone a year later.

On March 15, 1950, 2 ½ years after ground was broken for Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center, construction was completed on the 300-bed hospital. On May 28, Bishop Eustace presided at a dedication ceremony attended by 3,000, including several hundred priests, physicians and civic leaders. The inscription above the main entrance, “The Body Is Often Curable — The Soul Is Ever So,” spoke to the new hospital’s commitment to Franciscan values.

The Diocese raised $1 million, or one-quarter the cost of the new hospital. The Franciscan Sisters assumed a debt of more than $3 million. The Rev. Mother Jean Marie Greeley appointed Mother Mary Paracleta the first hospital administrator. She served in that post until 1969, and was a driving force behind Lourdes’ initial growth.

Camden was a thriving city when Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center was planned and built. However, in the 1960s, Camden fell prey to an urban manufacturing decline and an exodus of middle-class residents to the suburbs.

The Franciscan Sisters realized there was a need to develop top-quality specialty services that would draw patients from throughout southern New Jersey. These services would support the hospital’s mission of staying in Camden and providing quality care to its residents while also serving the growing suburban population. The hospital developed several regional services to sustain the organization, including cardiology, high-risk maternity, physical rehabilitation, dialysis and organ transplantation.

The facility itself has been expanded and improved many times to meet the needs of the community.

Planning for the addition of a School of Nursing began in 1956. Groundbreaking for the school occurred in 1959 on the medical center’s campus, and the first class of nurses was accepted in 1961. “We may sometimes wonder why the sisters embark on such great projects,” Camden Bishop Justin J. McCarthy said during the school’s groundbreaking ceremony. “They always want to do great work for God. I’m sure the nurses trained here will obtain a true sense of the spirit of Christian charity. Let us not forget that the nurses are the right hand of the doctors.”

From 1970-71, the hospital underwent the first of several renovations, a $2 million project for intensive care, cardiac care and surgical recovery areas. In 1976, the medical center completed a $6.9 million construction project. The four-story addition housed a new 50-bed rehabilitation center, as well as expanded outpatient and emergency departments. In 1988, the medical center completed a three-year, $42 million renovation and expansion that included two new patient floors; a spacious solarium; new pediatrics, inpatient dialysis and mental health units; a women’s services floor; a new cardiac services floor; larger and modernized patient rooms throughout the medical center; new radiology and laboratory equipment; and new nursing stations.

Two years later, Angel’s Alley, one of the region’s first hospital-based child-care centers, opened. Angel’s Alley not only cares for the children of employees, but also those from the neighborhood, allowing their parents the opportunity to find productive, economically beneficial jobs.

In 1999, the Sister M. Elizabeth Corry Ambulatory Care Center opened across Haddon Avenue from the hospital. The 46,000-square-foot (4,300 m2) building, named for the medical center’s long-time president, houses the Osborn Family Health Center, outpatient dialysis and organ transplant facilities.

In 2005, Lourdes opened a $60 million expansion that features a new emergency department, operating suites, patient rooms, laboratories and School of Nursing. Also in 2005, Lourdes, now with 410 beds, became the first hospital in the Delaware Valley to acquire a 64-slice CT scanner.