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Christian Roots of Colorado Hospitals

Christian ministries have always played a vital role in meeting the needs of the poor and the sick. In fact, many of Colorado's current hospitals have Christian roots.

St. Joseph

Denver's St. Joseph Hospital had meager beginnings. In 1873, while Denver was still struggling to become the Territorial Capital, Mother Xavier Ross of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, Kansas, sent four sisters to establish a hospital with just nine dollars. The hospital opened in a cottage at 14th and Arapahoe, but soon moved to a brick building at 26th and Market Street. Since this was a short distance from Denver's redlight district, the sisters were told it was a questionable neighborhood for a hospital. According to St. Joseph Hospital historical records one of the sisters then replied, "We'll take the question out of the neighborhood."

During the early years, the hospital was known as Saint Vincent's, but was changed to Saint Joseph in 1876 when the sisters began construction at 18th and Humboldt on land donated to them by territorial Governor William Gilpin. This site was directly adjacent to the hospital's present location at 1835 Franklin Street.

The March 22, 1899 issue of the Denver Times wrote, "The success of the hospital and its rapid growth is due in large measure to the nonsectarian character of the charity ... and the keen interest which the sisters take in the work to which they have devoted their lives."

Presbyterian/St. Luke's

At a time when hospitals were considered a nuisance and unwelcome within city limits, Colorado Episcopal Bishop John Franklin Spalding, his wife and the Cathedral Ladies Hospital Aid Society opened St. Luke's Hospital in a former hotel at Federal Boulevard and Colfax in Denver. A decade later, in 1891, St. Luke's reopened in two, new, pressed brick and Colorado sandstone buildings at 19th and Pearl Streets.

By the end of World War I, St. Luke's just couldn't accommodate Denver's swelling population. In 1919, the Denver Hospital Association raised $75,000 to purchase land and began construction on another hospital -- the 135 bed Presbyterian Hospital. St. Lukes and Presbyterian Hospitals combined in 1979 and in 1993 the century-old St. Luke's closed for good. St. Luke's name still lives on through the current Presbyterian/ St. Luke's Medical Center.

Bishop Spalding's name lives on through Spalding Rehabilitation Hospital in Aurora. In 1914 members of the Episcopal Church opened the Church Convalescent Home to serve impoverished women and children and it was later named after Bishop Spalding.

St. Francis Health Center

St. Francis Health Center, formerly St. Francis Hospital, was the first hospital in Colorado Springs. Established in 1887, the hospital began as a treatment clinic for injured railroad workers who were involved in construction of the railroad's Colorado Springs to Leadville line. Dr. B.P. Anderson, a physician and surgeon for Midland Railroad Company and four Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration founded the clinic.

Dr. Anderson was familiar with the nursing skills of the Sisters of St. Francis from the Civil War. Two weeks after the Sisters arrived in Colorado Springs, a construction train derailed near Leadville, killing three and injuring a dozen more. About 60 of the injured workers were brought to the clinic to be cared for by the Sisters and Dr. Anderson.

It became clear that the city needed a larger facility to care not only for the railroad workers and their families, but the other residents moving into the area. Through door-to-door solicitations, the Sisters raised $20,000 to build the city's first hospital on the same site St. Francis Health Center occupies today. Incidently, the Sisters of St. Francis were also instrumental in the founding of Denver's St. Anthony Hospital in 1892 by begging on street corners for funds.

St. Mary's

In 1895, Sisters Balbina Farrel and Louisa Madden embarked on their mission from Leavenworth, Kansas, to bring a hospital to the relatively new western town of Grand Junction, Colorado. On May 22, 1896, their dream became a reality with the opening of a small ten bed wood frame hospital which was called St. Mary's Hospital.

As the population of Grand Junction grew, so did St. Mary's. In response to the commitment and perseverance of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, the community graciously donated the funding, in 1923, for a new wing housing 30 patient rooms and space for classrooms. In the 1940's, St. Mary's established the Regional Blood Bank and was designated a cancer detection center for western Colorado.

Although St. Mary's isn't the only hospital in Colorado with Christian roots, it is one of the few that still proclaims a Christian mission. It says in its informational material that St. Mary's is guided by the philosophy which offers as a part of the healing mission to witness to the Gospel of Jesus by striving to provide quality health care in a spirit of justice and charity. Fundamental to this witness are respect for the dignity of all persons, reverence for human life at all stages, and compassionate care and sensitivity to human suffering.

Inner City Health Center

In 1983, Dr. Robert Williams and his wife Jan, along with Dr. Duane Claassen and other committed Christians founded Denver's Inner City Health Center in the impoverished area of "Five Points." Dr. Williams had read the book, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger by Ron Sider, when at the same time he was asking God why he was in Denver. He began to see that God had a special concern for the poor. After many meetings with inner-city pastors, business people and much prayer, the vital need for a health center in this low-income neighborhood became a reality.

The vision of the Inner City Health Center has always been to provide quality health care within a Christian atmosphere of love, by expressing a deep concern for the physical, emotional and spiritual well-being for all people. The health center also acts as a bridge to create opportunities between the suburbs and the inner city to develop relationships and overcome cultural barriers.

In the midst of the corporate takeover of hospitals across the nation, it is encouraging to see that the Christian tradition of caring for the sick and poor is alive and well through ministries like the Inner City Health Center.

Rocky Mountain Family Council

8704 Yates Drive, Suite 205

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(303) 292-1800

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