USA Health Providence Hospital facts for kids
Quick facts for kids USA Health Providence Hospital |
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North elevation in 2009
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| Geography | |
| Location | 6801 Airport Boulevard, Mobile, Alabama, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 30°40′45″N 88°11′56″W / 30.67917°N 88.19889°W |
| Organisation | |
| Care system | Non-profit Hospital |
| Hospital type | Teaching |
| Services | |
| Emergency department | Level III Trauma Center |
| History | |
| Founded | 1854 |
USA Health Providence Hospital, also called Providence Hospital, is a large hospital in Mobile, Alabama, U.S. It has 349 beds for patients. The main hospital building is 11 stories tall and was finished in 1987. It stands about 170 feet (52 meters) high. The hospital is located on a big campus that is 277 acres (112 hectares) in size. A famous American architect named Bertrand Goldberg designed the building. He is also known for designing the Marina City complex in Chicago.
Contents
Hospital History
Early Beginnings in Mobile (1854)
Providence Hospital was started in 1854 by a group of nuns called the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul. They came from Emmitsburg, Maryland. Before this, in 1841, the first bishop of Mobile, Michael Portier, asked them to come to the city. He wanted them to help care for children who had lost their parents because of a sickness called yellow fever.
By 1852, the Sisters were working at the Mobile City Hospital. However, they stopped working there in 1854. This happened during a time when some people in the city did not like the Catholic Church. So, a group of local citizens decided to help the Sisters. On August 15, 1854, they formed a group to build a new hospital for the Sisters. This new hospital had 60 beds and was finished in 1855. It was located at Broad and St. Anthony Streets.
Moving to New Locations
In 1902, the hospital moved to a new building on an 11-acre (4.5-hectare) campus on Springhill Avenue. This building was designed in a style called Mediterranean Revival. Two years later, in 1904, the Sisters started the second nursing school in Alabama. This school helped train people to become nurses.
By the late 1940s, the hospital had grown too big for its 100-bed building. So, in February 1949, they started building a new, larger hospital. This new building was finished in October 1952. It was built in a Modern style and had 250 beds.
The Current Hospital Building
By the 1980s, even the 1952 building was not big enough. The Sisters decided to move the hospital to a new, much larger site. This new site was 250 acres (101 hectares) on the western edge of Mobile. They hired Bertrand Goldberg to design the new hospital. He was known for his creative hospital designs.
The new hospital cost $60 million to build. It was one of the last big hospital projects designed by Goldberg's company. He had a special design idea called a "bed-cluster pod." This design grouped patient rooms around a central area where nurses worked. This made it easier for nurses to see and help patients quickly. Construction on the tall, concrete building began in 1982. The hospital welcomed its first patients on July 15, 1987.
Changes in Ownership
In 1999, the Daughters of Charity National Health System joined with another health system. They formed a new organization called Ascension Health, which later became Ascension. Providence Hospital became part of Ascension in 1999. In 2017, the hospital's name was changed to Ascension Providence. This was part of a plan to include the Ascension name in all their hospitals.
More recently, on April 18, 2023, it was announced that The University of South Alabama Health Care Authority, also known as USA Health, would buy Providence Hospital. They also bought its clinics from Ascension for $85 million. On October 1, 2023, The University of South Alabama announced that the purchase was complete. This made Providence Hospital part of USA Health, which is the university's health system.
See also
- List of tallest buildings in Mobile
