The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis have been providing health care to residents of the Upper Peninsula since 1884. After serving the sick at the Delta County Hospital, the Sisters purchased the building and renamed it St. Francis Hospital. Located on South 14th Street, the facility was rebuilt in 1927 after a fire, and a new wing was added in 1957. When the current OSF St. Francis Hospital building was dedicated in August 1986, the old facility was torn down, and the property sold.

The OSF St. Francis Hospital story begins 123 years ago in Bismarck's Germany, in the village of Herford. There, a group of sisters taught school and took care of orphans until violent persecution of the Catholic Church began, and the sisters were exiled from the country. The little group of 29 Sisters took refuge in the United States, settling in Iowa City, Iowa. In 1876, the pastor of St. Joseph's Church in Peoria requested that the sisters establish a hospital there, and the first St. Francis Hospital was founded by The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis, East Peoria, Illinois.

In 1883, a request to provide health care in Delta County came from Rev. Eugene Butterman, OFM, then pastor of St. Joseph's Church in Escanaba. County officials in Escanaba had built the Delta County Hospital to provide for the community's health care needs, but it was difficult to keep it sufficiently staffed with good nursing personnel. The mayor and the county physician approached Father Butterman to obtain sisters for the nursing staff. In an agreement signed February 12, 1884, the sisters would conduct the hospital and be paid as nurses by the city of Escanaba. The first administrator was Sister Barbara.

Early Hospital Care

The daily routine of the sisters at the Delta County Hospital was very strenuous. Rising at 5:00 a.m. to pray and work; caring for patients in the sick room, even transporting them up and down stairs. The sisters also did all the housecleaning and maintenance duties at the hospital; cared for the vegetable gardens, which provided patients with food; milked the cows; and tended the chickens and pigs. Laundry was done at 2:00 a.m. Average daily charge per patient for all of these services was 75 cents. The sisters also provided an early outreach program, visiting the lumber camps to provide health care to the workers. A horse and buggy transported them as far as the roads permitted. They covered the final miles to the lumber camps on foot, carrying all their supplies. At the end of a long day of service, darkness or weather conditions often made return to the hospital impossible. Reports show that the rough men were unfailingly respectful to the sisters on the occasions when they stayed overnight.

Early Surgical Procedures

Rubber gloves, head cloths, masks and sterile gowns were once unknown in surgical work. All materials were prepared by the operating room nurse. Bandages were torn the proper width from unbleached muslin that was first washed and boiled by the nurse in a large copper boiler. Convalescent patients helped the nurses roll them on a small hand bandage roller. Dressings that were not too badly soiled were rewashed, reboiled and used a second time.

After surgery, the nurse would scrub and disinfect her hands, wash the linens and hang them on a clothes line in the operating room. In the morning, another nurse followed the sterile procedure, then folded the linens neatly, ready for use again. All water used for solutions was boiled in large granite pitchers.

Infections were infrequent, but when one did occur, blame fell to the nurse for faulty technique. Many surgical patients were tended to by a special duty nurse--usually a student--who remained on duty an average of 30 consecutive hours without relief, followed by her customary half-day off for the week. The relationship between the Sisters and the people of Escanaba was excellent.

A New Hospital

A fire in 1889 destroyed a good portion of the old hospital building. In 1915, at the suggestion of the mayor, the Sisters purchased the Delta County Hospital, renaming it St. Francis Hospital. In 1926, another fire partially destroyed the hospital. The Sisters were discouraged, but the people of Escanaba came to the Sisters' aid immediately to help rebuild a new facility. The new hospital included two wings, with an addition of needed patient rooms and a convent for the Sisters. Three thousand people gathered for the Dedication Mass in 1927, acclaiming the new building one of the finest in the Upper Peninsula.

Later, in 1957 and 1958, the hospital conducted a community fund-raising campaign to construct the wing built in 1959. Cost of this construction was $1.4 million. Further additions and improvements were made over the years, including improvements to the Special Care Unit in 1973 and the addition of a mammography X-ray unit in 1975. The current hospital building was constructed in 1986. Throughout their history, the Sisters have worked hard to ensure up-to-date facilities and quality care for all the citizens of Delta County and the surrounding areas. This completes the story of OSF St. Francis Hospital's first century of care. As we remember the past and rejoice in the present, we also look forward to our future and our continued commitment to providing the highest quality health care possible to the patients we serve.