Mayo Clinic: Revolutionizing Medicine and Patient Care
St. Mary's Hospital
The Origins and Evolution of the Mayo Clinic 2016. National Library of Medicine
In 1883, after working together during the tornado devastation, Mother Alfred Moes approached William Worrall Mayo, inspired by a dream. She felt called by God to build a hospital in Rochester. Mayo, not a religious man, was skeptical.
By 1889, the Sisters of St. Francis built a four-story hospital known as St. Mary’s; this began groundbreaking legacy of Mayo Clinic.
St. Mary's Hospital 1891. Mayo archives.com
Mother Alfred Moes announced the hospital would uniquely accept patients regardless of race, religion, class, or gender. Originally causing some concern among Catholics who were skeptical of Protestant involvement, religious acceptance gradually increased patronage.
St.Mary's Hospital 1889. Olmsted County Historical Society
The Mayo brothers were on the frontier of medical care, putting patients' needs first, and working in teams to treat the sick. Due to the hospital's exceptional care, two-thirds of surgical patients admitted had a mortality rate of only two percent.
By 1906, Mayo surgeons had performed 4,770 operations at St. Mary’s Hospital, more than any hospital in the United States.
"Word was spreading quickly about the brothers' surgical skills and the sisters' compassionate care-provided to all regardless of resource or religion. Men and women traveled to Rochester from ever greater distances as train tracks fanned out across the prairies and beyond." Bruce Fye