Celebrating the past, present and future
Saint John Hospital is hosting a 160th Birthday Bash on Saturday, March 16, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at 3500 S 4th Street, Leavenworth, Kan. The family fun event is being held to mark the 160th year that Saint John has cared for residents in Leavenworth and surrounding communities.
The hospital is hosting a party to celebrate the past, present, and future of Saint John Hospital! The public is invited to join in the fun that will include family games/activities, live music, and free lunch!
Details include:
• Cake cutting ceremony 10:45 am.
• Lunch provided for first 300* 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Fun activities for kids
• Live music provided by Acoustic Nights
• Hospital services and hospital provider information
• Meet EMS first responders
Please note, the hospital hopes to host this as an outdoor event. If it rains or is cold, it will be moved inside on the Ground Floor of the hospital. Signs will be posted that day.
Fun history:
Saint John as the first private hospital in the state of Kansas, opening its’ doors on March 15, 1864, by the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth.
In 1858, a group of Sisters of Charity, led by Mother Xavier Ross, responded to the call of Bishop John Baptiste Miege, S. J., to expand the ministry of healthcare and education in the Kansas Territory. They traveled to the area and began plans to build a hospital. In 1864, before Saint John Hospital was finished and ready for occupancy, a lumber wagon deposited at the door a family of poor refugees from Alabama “fleeing before Sherman’s army and without means of starting life anew.” The Sisters of Charity took them in, fed and clothed them and gave them a fresh start.
In 1864 the hospital opened under the direction of Sister Joanna Bruner, the first trained nurse in the state and surely the first woman in the Western territory to be administrator of a hospital. Sister Joanna Bruner also taught nursing care to other sisters.