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The drive to open the first permanent hospital in Olympia was headed in 1886 by A. H. Chambers, mayor of the city. A well-run hospital was seen to be an important amenity for visiting legislators, as well as a necessity for the growing lumber industry in the region. At the request of the Reverend Charles Claessens, Pastor of St. Michael Catholic Church, the Sisters of Providence agreed to build and operate the hospital if the city provided the property. A site was chosen on the present Capitol campus, adjacent to the territorial Capitol and near the sisters' Providence St. Amable Academy. The land was purchased for $2250 and paid for through subscriptions of the residents of Olympia.

Mother Joseph of the Sacred Heart and her associate, J.B. Blanchet, designed the 30-bed facility, to be called St. Peter Hospital. The sisters accepted their first patient June 21, 1887, several months before the building was completed. Official opening of the hospital was September 23, 1887.

With the support of the community and creative fund-raising on the part of the sisters, St. Peter Hospital became well established. Legislators and other visitors to the Capitol accepted the sisters' offer of lodging, and their payment for room and board helped support the hospital. Even before the hospital opened, the sisters adopted a plan to offer pre-paid medical care to local lumbermen, and later entered into contracts with logging companies. These efforts brought a steady source of income to the hospital and provided workers whatever medical care they might need during the year. The hospital also contracted with Thurston and Mason Counties to care for indigent residents and prisoners.

Expanded and remodeled several times, the original St. Peter Hospital was replaced in 1924 by a modern, brick facility on West Sherman Street. A School of Nursing was established to train professional nurses, and the hospital initiated a thorough program to standardize medical care. The sisters' commitment to the poor was not forgotten during the Great Depression, nor in the post-war boom, as clinics were established to provide medical care, food, and social services.

Shortly after the hospital's 75^th anniversary in 1962, planning began for a new building in a new location. The current facility, located on Lilly Road near Lacey, opened on January 6, 1971. Planning and fund-raising for the new building was coordinated by the hospital's first community advisory board, established in 1965. In 1974, David Bjornson was hired as the hospital's first lay administrator. Today, Providence St. Peter Hospital continues to serve the region with comprehensive medical, surgical, educational and behavioral health services.

Adapted from St. Peter Hospital: A History, by Shanna B. Stevenson
(St. Peter Hospital Centennial Committee, 1987)

Brief Description of the Records
The records found within the collection for Providence St. Peter Hospital include chronicles; general history; correspondence; reports; legal and financial documents; publications; department and topical files; scrapbooks; photographs; and artifacts. The bulk of the material dates from 1910 to 1977. Of particular interest are the chronicles, the annual written account of activities and events, which detail life at the hospital from 1887 to the present. Genealogical information is limited to one ledger of accounts, 1890-1904, which mentions only name and city of residence. The School of Nursing (1919-1953) and the School of Practical Nursing (1955-1970) are well documented. The chronicles and some of the other early records are in French.

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