St. Vincent's Health System milestones
1898
Temporary hospital opens in the DeBardeleben home.
Nov. 29, a young boy, Willie Alidge becomes the first patient.
Dec. 20, the hospital officially opens.
Dec. 24, Father O’Reilly celebrates the first Mass in the hospital chapel.
1900
The original hospital building and nursing school open. The hospital is named St. Vincent's to honor St. Vincent's de Paul, who helped found the Daughters of Charity.
Alabama's first trained nurses: Mary Agnes Thompson, Lucy Catherine Maguire and Annie Loretta
1903
Mary Agnes Thompson, Lucy Catherine Maguire and Annie Loretta become the first three nurses to graduate from St. Vincent's Hospital School of Nursing.
1905
St. Vincent's opens Birmingham’s first outpatient clinic for the poor. Efforts were made for many years to keep the clinic running without compensation.
Sister Chrysostom Moynahan
1909
John Donovan is the first child born at the hospital.
1915
St. Vincent's becomes the first hospital in Alabama to have an X-ray department.
1916
Sister Chrysostom Moynahan becomes the first registered nurse in Alabama. She not only supervised the construction of the new hospital, but also served as the Administrator for 18 years (1900-1918).
1920
Pathology Department opens.
1946
East End Memorial Hospital opens in the former Mamie Mell Smith Hall on the campus of Howard College (now Samford University).
1963
Hospital Auxiliary is established for dedicated volunteers to donate time and energy to make our patients stay as comfortable as possible.
1965
Hospital Auxiliary volunteers start the Holiday Stocking program - a tradition that continues today.
1970
St. Clair Regional Hospital opens in Pell City, AL and was later run by Eastern Health System. Today the hospital and specialty care campus is known as Ascension St. Vincent's St. Clair.
1972
Original hospital is replaced by a new seven-story structure.
1984
St. Vincent’s Foundation is established.
1985
Camp Bluebird is established as the first adult cancer camp in the United States. Participants gather for three days of activities, workshops and events. The camp is funded by Ascension St. Vincent's Foundation, as well as private donations. Other cities in Alabama and across the country have duplicated the program due to it's success.
St. Vincent's Primary Care Cleveland opens in Cleveland, AL.
1986
East End Memorial Hospital is renamed Medical Center East and relocates to its new campus near Trussville. Today the hospital and specialty care campus is known as Ascension St. Vincent's East.
1987
Nursing School graduates last class (1,836 nurses graduated throughout the school's history).
1989
Bruno Cancer Center opens at our Birmingham campus. New facility (pictured) opens in 2014.
St. Vincent's Occupational Health Services is developed to provide healthcare services and evaluations at company worksites.
1992
Bruno Memorial Heart Care Center and Bruno Rehabilitation Center open at our Birmingham campus.
1997
Bruno Conference Center and the Women & Children's Center open at our Birmingham campus.
1998
St. Vincent’s celebrates its 100th Anniversary.
"The St. Vincent's Story A Century of Caring" is published.
The Sisters' Vigil statue, created by local sculptor Brad Morton and gifted by Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Cunningham, is installed on the Birmingham campus. The statue symbolizes the original four sisters who began St. Vincent's. The sculpture's imagery was concevied by Dr. Edwin Waldrop.
1999
Medical Center Blount, originally part of Eastern Health System, opens in Oneonta. Today the hospital, primary and specialty care campus is known as Ascension St. Vincent's Blount.
St. Vincent's Health System joins in the founding of Ascension Health.
2005
St. Vincent's One Nineteen opens in north Shelby County. The facility provides a fully integrated approach to healthcare by offering medical services, diagnostics, physical therapy and lab services with an award-winning fitness center, education and wellness services and a spa. One Nineteen is truly a one-of-a-kind model centered around the needs of our patients.
2007
St. Vincent's merges with Eastern Health System and acquires Medical Center East, Medical Center Blount and St. Clair hospitals. With this merger, we officially become St. Vincent's Health System.
2011
St. Vincent's St. Clair's new campus (pictured) opens off I-20 in Pell City, AL.
St. Vincent's Primary Care Hoover opens in Hoover, AL.
2012
Ascension St. Vincent's Birmingham opens Alabama's first comprehensive heart valve clinic for patients with valvular heart disease.
2013
St. Vincent's Primary Care Locust Fork opens in Locust Fork, AL.
2015
St. Vincent's Primary Care Gardendale opens in Gardendale, AL.
Ascension St. Vincent's Birmingham becomes the first hospital in the state to perform the WATCHMAN implant procedure. This device helps reduce stroke risk in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AFib).
2016
St. Vincent's Chilton opens in Clanton, AL.
St. Vincent's Birmingham is the first hospital in Alabama to offer minimally invasive spinal surgery using the Mazor Robotics Renaissance Guidance System. In 2018 it became the first in the state and one of only two hospitals in the country to offer multiple Mazor robots.
2017
St. Vincent's Trussville (pictured), a multi-use outpatient facility, opens in Trussville, AL.
St. Vincent's Primary Care Cahaba Heights opens in Vestavia Hills, AL.
St. Vincent's Primary Care Oneonta opens at our Blount Campus.
St. Vincent's Urgent Care opens in Homewood, AL.
St. Vincent's adds the Ascension logo and name to its brand.
2018
St. Vincent's Primary Care Oak Mountain (pictured) opens in Pelham, AL.
2019
Cardiology Specialists of Birmingham joins Ascension St. Vincent's with practice locations across the Birmingham metro.
2020
Ascension St. Vincent's works alongside all Ministry Markets to begin planning for COVID-19 identification and case management. By March 11, WHO declares COVID-19 a global pandemic.
First COVID-19 vaccines arrive in December for our front line associates.
2021
Ascension St. Vincent's Primary Care Mayfair opens in Vestavia Hills, AL.
Ascension St. Vincent's Primary Care Greystone Village opens in Shelby County.
Ascension St. Vincent's launches new logo (pictured).
2022
Ascension St. Vincent's Primary Care Vestavia opens in Vestavia Hills, AL.
Ascension St. Vincent's Cardiothoracic Surgery specialty practice opens at Patchwork Farms.
The ground is officially broken at the site of the future Ascension St. Vincent's East Freestanding Emergency Department (pictured) in Trussville, AL.
2023
On Jan. 4, Ascension St. Vincent's officially kicked off its 125th Anniversary yearlong celebration with Mass led by Bishop Steven J. Raica. The event was held at Ascension St. Vincent's Birmingham chapel followed by a reception at the Bruno Conference Center.
2024
On Feb. 16, St. Vincent's East Freestanding Emergency Department opened in Trussville. View photos from the ribbon cutting ceremony.