Scripps Mercy Hospital is a private

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

hospital in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, California. Founded in 1890, it is the oldest hospital in San Diego County and has campuses in

Chula Vista Chula Vista ( ; , ) is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. It is the second-most populous city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the seventh-most populous city in Southern California, the 15th-most populous city in the ...

and Hillcrest. The hospital has 700 acute-care-licensed beds and employs 1,300 physicians. The Hillcrest campus is home to one of four regional Level I

Trauma Centers A trauma center, or trauma centre, is a hospital equipped and staffed to provide care for patients suffering from major traumatic injuries such as falls, motor vehicle collisions, or gunshot wounds. The term "trauma center" may be used incorr ...

and receives more than 2,100 trauma patients each year.

History

In 1890, the

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute for women in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. In 2019, the institute had about 6,200 Religious sister, sisters worldwide, organized into a number ...

opened a five-bed

dispensary A dispensary is an office in a school, hospital, industrial plant, or other organization that dispenses medications, medical supplies, and in some cases even medical and dental treatment. In a traditional dispensary set-up, a pharmacist dispense ...

called St. Joseph's in

downtown San Diego Downtown San Diego is the central business district of San Diego, California, the eighth largest city in the United States. It houses the major local headquarters of the city, county, state, and federal governments. The area comprises seven d ...

, with the permission of Bishop

Francisco Mora y Borrell Francisco Mora y Borrell (November 25, 1827 – August 3, 1905) was a Spanish-born prelate of the Catholic Church. He was the third Bishop of Monterey-Los Angeles, serving from 1878 to 1896. Biography Early life Mora was born on November 25, 18 ...

. The dispensary was replaced by a three-story hospital in Hillcrest called St. Joseph's Sanitarium in 1891, which was renamed to St. Joseph's Hospital in 1904. It remained the sole hospital for San Diego, until County Hospital was built at the top of Sixth Street, above Mission Valley, in 1903. In 1921, as St. Joseph's Sanitarium, the hospital became the first hospital accredited by the

American College of Surgeons The American College of Surgeons (ACS) is a professional medical association for surgeons and surgical team members, founded in 1913. It claims more than 90,000 members in 144 countries. History The ACS was founded in 1913 as an outgrowth of ...

that is west of the Mississippi River. The current hospital building, also in Hillcrest, was built in 1925 and named Mercy Hospital. A second hospital, Bay General Hospital, was established in

. In 1986, Bay General joined the

Scripps Health Scripps Health is a nonprofit health care system based in San Diego, California. The system includes five hospital campuses and 30 outpatient centers and clinics, and treats more than 600,000 patients annually through 3,000 affiliated physicians. ...

system, as did Mercy Hospital in 1995 (which then became Scripps Mercy Hospital). Prior to its being under Scripps Health, it was part of Catholic Health Care West. Even after it joining Scripps Health, it remains a Catholic hospital. In 2004, the two hospitals were combined at the Hillcrest campus. As recently as 2015, Nuns of Sisters of Mercy continue to work at the hospital, but fulfilling more spiritual needs rather than direct care.

Gallery

Image:Scripps_Mercy_Hospital_Trauma_Room.jpg, The trauma room at Scripps Mercy. Image:Scripps_Mercy_Roof.jpg, View from the roof. Scripps Mercy Hospital San Diego - 4.jpg, As seen from 8th Avenue.

References

{{authority control Catholic hospitals in the United States Hospitals in San Diego Hospitals established in 1890 Trauma centers Catholic health care

History

Gallery

See also

References