In the early 1900s, Lake Charles, La., was the center of a growing lumber industry, yet it had no hospitals. Seeing the need for a quality medical facility, John Greene Martin, M.D., president of the local medical society, and Rev. Hubert Cramers, rector of Immaculate Conception Church, set about to provide for one.
The new three-story hospital was dedicated on St. Patrick's Day in 1908 as St. Patrick Sanitarium, with 50 beds, an operating room and a sterilizing room. The name was later changed to St. Patrick Hospital which has continued its tradition of dedication and quality medical care for almost 100 years.
In 1999 CHRISTUS Health was formed to join the two health systems and strengthen the sisters' faith-based, not-for-profit health care ministry in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Utah and Oklahoma. This co-sponsored health care system is one of the top 10 largest Catholic health systems in the nation.
