SSM Health
SSM Health is a Catholic, not-for-profit United States health care system. More than 1,300 physicians and 29,500 others employees in four states are employed by SSM. SSM is one of the largest employers in the cities it serves. States that SSM services include Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Illinois and Missouri.
SSM adopted the electronic health record fairly early, and provides care in a range settings, including hospitals, pediatric medical centers, outpatient centers, clinics, surgery centers, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, physician offices, emergency centers, rehabilitation facilities, home care, and hospice.
Based in St. Louis, Mo., SSM Health owns 18 hospitals, and has affiliations with more than 40 rural hospitals. SSM also owns two nursing homes, and has a variety of partnerships with physicians.
In September 2013, Dean Health System, a large multi-specialty physician group and health plan, finalized a deal to merge Dean and its subsidiaries, including Dean Health Plan, into SSM Health. The merger became effective on September 1 after all necessary regulatory approvals were received.
SSM is sponsored by the Franciscan Sisters of Mary and based in St. Louis, Missouri. It is one of the largest Catholic hospital systems in the United States.
History of SSM Health
SSM Health traces its roots to 1872, when Mother Mary Odilia Berger and four other sisters came to St. Louis from Germany, after caring for sick and wounded soldiers during the Franco-Prussian War[citation needed]. Facing religious persecution in Germany, they came to the United States. When they arrived in St. Louis they began providing nursing care to people in their own homes. That winter, when a smallpox epidemic hit St. Louis, the sisters cared for the sick and dying. For a short time, people referred to them as the Smallpox Sisters. In 1874, the congregation received its formal name: the Sisters of St. Mary (SSM) from the parish where their convent was located, St. Mary of Victories[1] near the riverfront in St. Louis.
Five years after their arrival in St. Louis, the sisters borrowed $16,000, to open their first hospital, St. Mary’s Infirmary. Almost 60 percent of their patients were unable to pay for their health care services. Account ledgers from this time identify those who were unable to pay for their services as an “ODL,” a designation that stood for “Our Dear Lord’s.” During this time, the sisters relied on God to provide for their needs as they cared for the poor.
Most of the health care facilities that today belong to SSM Health were previously part of a group of hospitals owned by the Sisters of St. Mary and centrally governed, but not centrally managed. In the mid-1980s, the sponsoring congregation decided to reorganize its hospitals into a system of centrally managed health care providers, and SSM Health was created in 1986. Today the system is managed by a team of professionals—both lay and religious—and governed by members of the sponsoring congregation as well as by laypersons from the communities served by its facilities.[citation needed]
In 2012 SSM stated that it was 'disappointed with the contraceptive mandate' regarding being legally forced to cover such items by the Affordable Care Act, against Catholic freedom of conscience.[2]
About SSM Health
Headquarters
- St. Louis, Missouri
Service Areas
- Missouri
- Illinois
- Oklahoma
- Wisconsin
Locations
- 19 hospitals
- 40 affiliate hospitals
- 2 long-term senior care facilities
- 36 pediatric affiliates, telehealth and clinic sites
- 14 urgent/convenient care centers
- 1 day care center for children
Employees
- 30,000
Physicians
- 1,300 employed physicians
Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
In 2002, SSM Health became the first health care organization in history to receive the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the highest award for quality in the U.S.
SSM Health Facilities
Missouri
- SSM Health St. Louis University Hospital - St. Louis
- SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital
- SSM Health DePaul Hospital - St. Louis
- SSM Health St. Clare Hospital - Fenton
- SSM Health St. Francis Hospital - Maryville
- SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital - Lake Saint Louis
- SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital - St. Charles
- SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital - Wentzville
- SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital - St. Louis
- SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital - Jefferson City
- SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital - Audrain (Mexico, Missouri)
Oklahoma
- St. Anthony Hospital - Main Campus (Oklahoma City)
- St. Anthony Bone and Joint Hospital (Oklahoma City)
- St. Anthony Healthplex East (Oklahoma City)
- St. Anthony Healthplex North (Oklahoma City)
- St. Anthony Healthplex South (Oklahoma City)
- St. Anthony Healthplex Mustang (Oklahoma City metro)
- St. Anthony Hospital Shawnee (Oklahoma City metro)
- St. Anthony Urgent Care Center Shawnee
Wisconsin
- St. Clare Hospital and Health Services (Baraboo)
- St. Clare Meadows Care Center (Baraboo)
- St. Mary's Hospital (Madison)
- St. Mary's Care Center (Madison)
- St. Mary's Janesville Hospital (Janesville)
- Dean Health System (Madison)
Illinois
- St. Mary's Good Samaritan, Inc. (Good Samaritan Regional Health Center in Mount Vernon and St. Mary's Hospital in Centralia)
Notes
- ^ "Historic St Mary of Victories Hungarian Catholic Church". smov.info. Retrieved 2015-10-13.
- ^ Channel 3000, accessed 8th Feb 2012