09/24/2025
Heritage Week continues with a look at the history of CHI St. Vincent. This time, let's look at Hot Springs.
In the 1880's, the Reverend Patrick McGowan, who settled in Hot Springs after retiring, asked Hot Springs physician Dr. J. M. Keller to buy a suitable building and its surrounding property for a hospital.
In 1888, Mother Aloysius Burke and Sister Mary Clare, two Sisters of Mercy, came to Hot Springs from Little Rock to prepare the 30-bed hospital for its grand opening. The hospital opened to Hot Spring residents on September 24, 1888, and was named St. Joseph’s Infirmary.
By the turn of the century, it was evident that an expansion was needed to accommodate the growing number of patients, and a five-story brick annex was added to the original frame structure. In 1927, after a fire, the sisters bought more property adjoining the hospital grounds, and ground was broken for a new 158-bed hospital building facing Whittington Avenue.
The hospital continued to expand and, in 1976, became St. Joseph’s Mercy Medical Center. Five years later, its name changed yet again to St. Joseph’s Regional Health Center. By the late 1980s, it had outgrown its Whittington Avenue location and moved to its new Werner Street location. In 2014, it joined our family to become CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs.
