Saint Anthony Hospital

saint anthony

History

Opening in 1902, Saint Anthony Hospital was founded by the Franciscan Sisters, with their mother home in Lafayette, Indiana. The goal of the Sisters of St. Francis was to operate a hospital accepting patients of all creeds and nationalities, free of charge. An imposing appearance, Saint Anthony Hospital was located at Barret and Wickliffe Avenues in Louisville, Kentucky. in 1900, The Rt. Rev. William George McCloskey invited the Sisters of St. Francis to open a hospital in Louisville, Kentucky and, along with the Very Rev. Paul Alf, secured one of the “tiniest sites” in Louisville. D. X. Murphy made the plans and in May of 1901, the cornerstone was officially laid. The hospital, at the time it opened, contained twelve public wards, two reception rooms, a parlor, one large and one small operating room. The bathrooms were on each of the four floors and the building contained a provisional chapel, a pharmacy, linen-rooms, dining rooms, and a kitchen.

(From the Herald Post Collection via the University of Louisville Photographic Archives)

The wards of the hospital were heated by a steam system and electric lights were installed. Sister Casona acted as the superior in charge at the time of the opening of the hospital. She went on to say that they had enough assistants to conduct the work and more sisters will be secured as needed. In 1962, the hospital became the first in Kentucky to allow fathers to be present for the birth. As time continued, the hospital began having financial troubles. By the 1990s, the Sisters of St. Francis Health Service Inc. began losing millions of dollars and at midnight on March 14, 1995, St. Anthony Medical Center officially transferred ownership to Louisville’s Vencor Inc.

Postcard of the Grotto at St. Anthony’s Hospital, Louisville, Kentucky. Kindly donated by Glenda Becher Steele who received this postcard in 1952.

Contributed by Shawn Logan | contact@kyhi.org

⁘ Works Cited ⁘

  1. The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky), 30 April 1902, p. 8.
  2. The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky), 1 March 1995, p. 24.
  3. [ULPA 1994.18.0755], Herald Post Collection, 1994.18, Photographic Archives, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky.

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