Opened by four Mercy sisters, it was the first hospital in the city after the Civil War. In 1900, Atlanta Hospital began its School of Nursing where it educated and trained more than 1,320 nurses over the next 73 years. Through the years, the Hospital grew and became known as the St. Joseph’s Infirmary. The hospital has had three locations throughout its history: Baker Street, Courtland Street, and currently a site just inside the perimeter of Atlanta. It is where the Atlanta Marriott Marquis is currently located. The current campus was dedicated in 1978 when the hospital was renamed Saint Joseph’s Hospital of Atlanta. The site has expanded greatly since it was opened in 1978 and now accommodates 410 beds serviced by over 750 physicians. The hospital had 16,358 admissions in the most recent available data. It performed 7,251 annual inpatient and 4,939 outpatient surgeries. There were 33,745 visits to its emergency room. Saint Joseph’s Hospital of Atlanta is a non-profit hospital.
“Furthering the healing ministry of the Sisters of Mercy, Saint Joseph's Hospital gives tangible expression to Christ's merciful love by providing compassionate, clinically excellent health care in the spirit of loving service to those in need, with special attention to the poor and vulnerable.”
Awards
Saint Joseph’s has received the distinguished Magnet Recognition for Nursing Excellence by American Nurses Association Credentialing Center. The hospital was named best in Georgia and top 5% in the country for cardiac and vascular programs. It also made Solucient’s list of the top 100 hospitals in the nation for cardiac and orthopedic service. Additionally, Saint Joseph’s is the only hospital in Atlanta honored on J.D. Power and Associates Distinguished Hospital Program for Service Excellence. It is also deemed one of the best specialty-referral hospitals in the Southeast.
Community service
Saint Joseph’s Hospital provides an extensive community network to the city of Atlanta, providing more than $37 million annually in charitable and uncompensated care for the poor and elderly. Additionally, another $7 million is raised each year to help those least able to cover medical costs. The staff also has a number of organized service-oriented projects including Raise the Roof, a joint effort with Charis to build homes for families in need, and Mercy Day, an effort to collect items to provide hygiene kits to the homeless in accordance with the Sisters of Mercy and their mission.
Mercy Care Services
The hospital is deeply committed to its original mission and focus on the poor. Saint Joseph’s Mercy Care Services carries out this goal by providing health services, education, and social services to thousands of Atlanta’s needy through two health care clinics, as well as a mobile clinic and five vans.
Movie location
Recently a variety of movies have been filming in Saint Joseph’s. These include the Three Stooges update, Ring of Fire, Flight,, Dumb and Dumber To, as well as the USA network television show Necessary Roughness.
