Margaret’s Hospital was founded in November of 1903 by seven sisters from Sisters of Mary of the Presentation, a group of nuns expelled from France by an anti-religious government. At the time, Spring Valley was a large coal mining camp. Laws protecting miners were few and accidents and deaths were frequent. John Power, pastor of the Immaculate Conception Church recognized the need for a hospital facility. He appealed to the Sisters of Mary of the Presentation to staff the new hospital. Twenty-five acres of land and a two-story frame house
were donated by Father Power, and so it began. People’s Hospital in Peru opened in 1914 and became Illinois Valley Community Hospital in 1976 when it merged with St. The St. Mary’s building—which was located where the Illinois Veterans’ Home now stands—was closed following the merger. Expansion of the People’s campus began immediately and culminated with the opening of an 80-bed addition in 1979. Moving forward, further expansions were made. Some notable
additions include:
Building a parking garage and adding a second floor
to the West Street office building and then connecting
it to the hospital with a skybridge in 1994. Opening the Women’s Health Care Center in 2000. Once more adding to the main hospital building in 2003
with the opening of the East Addition, which included
an expanded emergency department and a new
surgical unit. Opening a new obstetrics unit and a new intensive
care unit in 2011 by adding a third floor to the
East Addition. Opening a Wound and Hyperbaric Center in 2013. The Hygienic Institute in LaSalle, which, like IVCH,
opened in 1914, became part of the Peru hospital
in 1996. On January 1, 2021, St. Margaret’s Hospital and IVCH finalized arrangements to consolidate their healthcare operations to form a regional health network. Just as St. Margaret’s Hospital was renamed St. Margaret’s Health – Spring Valley, Illinois Valley Community Hospital is now renamed St. Margaret’s Health – Peru. For a more complete history of St. Margaret’s Health, visit the “About” section of our website at aboutsmh.org.
