Our History - Missouri Baptist Medical Center

What began with one patient, one doctor and one room in 1884 has grown into a thriving medical center with 489 beds, more than 1,400 staff physicians and 2,700 employees today. While our hospital has continued to grow through the years, one thing has never changed: our promise to put the needs of our patients first. Always.

	1884 -- William H. Mayfield, MD, opens his home to his first patient
	1886 -- Missouri Baptist Sanitarium opens with the support of the Third Baptist Church of St. Louis
	1892 -- Missouri Baptist provides horse and carriage ambulance service
	1892 -- An addition to the Hospital is completed
	1894 -- The first staff is named; includes many noted St. Louis physicians and surgeons
	1895 -- Missouri Baptist Nursing Training School opens.
	1897 -- The first class graduates from Missouri Baptist Nursing Training School; there are three
	1903 -- Missouri Baptist purchases its first X-ray machine
	1905 -- Missouri Baptist builds its own electric power station
	1908 -- Missouri Baptist builds a bacteriology and chemical laboratory, one of the first in the nation
	1909 -- Physicians are added to the medical staff; rooms for patients are opened
	1915 -- A new medical building opens; additional services offered; Missouri Baptist purchases a motorized ambulance
	1918 -- During World War I, seven Missouri Baptist physicians and forty nurses volunteer with the Red Cross serving at stateside and overseas military bases; Missouri Baptist treats patients infected with the Spanish flu
	1919 -- Missouri Baptist hires its first dietitian
	1920 -- Missouri Baptist physicians endorse the “St. Louis Plan” to cut down on automobile accidents; the program receives national attention
	1921 -- Missouri Baptist opens a clinic for treating minor illnesses and injuries
	1922 -- Missouri Baptist receives class A rating
	1923 -- Apediatric area is opened in response to the findings of the Central States Pediatric Society; Missouri Baptist is fully accredited by the Missouri State Hospital Association and the American Protestant Hospital Association
	1924 -- Missouri Baptist purchases a cardiograft; the first occupational therapist is added to the staff
	1925 -- Missouri Baptist hires their first social worker to keep in touch with patients leaving the Hospital
	1926 -- Physical therapy is initiated Missouri Baptist using light, heat, water and electricity, massage and traction to treat disease
	1929 -- The Hospital’s name is changed to Missouri Baptist Hospital; the bone and joint center opens 1931 -- Two sections of the Hospital close due to low patient numbers and the Great Depression; Baptist churches give food and money to support the hospital during Hospital Day
	1937 -- Missouri Baptist purchases a 200,000-volt X-ray machine to treat cancer patients
	1938 -- Missouri Baptist Nursing students score first, second, and third on the state exam; the Hospital receives a fever cabinet, vasculator, infant respirator, and nose-and-throat operating chair
	1941 -- Fifteen physicians and fifteen nurses enlist after the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor
	1944 -- The entire graduating class from Missouri Baptist Nursing School enlists; the Hospital uses nurses’ aids and volunteers
	1947 -- The pathology lab is updated to include a blood bank
	1949 -- Missouri Baptist is approved by the American College of Surgeons
	1952 -- The 40-hour workweek is instituted at the Hospital
	1954 -- Another building addition is completed that includes a psychiatric unit and postoperative recovery rooms; an outpatient clinic on Washington Avenue also is opened
	1955 -- Missouri Baptist pharmacy achieves a perfect score from the Missouri Board of Pharmacy
	1958 -- Missouri Baptist receives an award from Hug A. Logan of the United Fund
	1959 -- A 28-bed unit for the ambulatory chronically ill opens; Missouri Baptist celebrates its 75th anniversary, featuring plans for a new Hospital
	1965 -- Medical facilities relocate to current location
	1972 -- East Wing expansion increases capacity and adds new areas for emergency care, outpatient treatment, surgery and radiology
	1979 -- West Wing expansion includes a new oncology unit, surgical intensive care unit, and respiratory therapy and pulmonary departments
	1983 -- Cardiologists perform the first heart catheterizations at Missouri Baptist
	1984 -- A cardiac surgery team is developed; the first open-heart surgery is performed December 3
	1989 -- Hospital changes name to Missouri Baptist Medical Center
	1993 -- Renovations add 15-room surgery center, medical and surgical intensive-care units and a dedicated Heart Center
	1994 -- Missouri Baptist Medical Center joins BJC HealthCare, St. Louis’ largest health care system
	2000 -- Renovations include the Cardiac and Vascular Center; Missouri Baptist School of Nursing graduates its final class after 105 years of operation
	2001 -- Missouri Baptist Medical Center joins the world’s largest prostate cancer prevention study
	2002 -- Building D opens with new Outpatient Cardiac Cath Lab, Digestive Disease Center, Breast Healthcare Center, Center for Women’s Wellness and Fetal Health, and Labor and Delivery Unit
	2007 -- Missouri Baptist purchases robotic surgical unit, the da Vinci System, for its prostate cancer program; East Pavilion opens on the southeast corner of the campus with new Emergency Department, Pediatric Emergency Department, Pediatric Care Center, Cancer Center and cardiovascular care area; introduces physician triage process to the new Emergency Department