In 1880, Sister Cecilla Carol, RSM and three companions traveled from the Motherhouse in Savannah, Georgia, to Atlanta, to minister to the sick. With what amounted to 50 cents, the Sisters opened The Atlanta Hospital, the first medical facility in the city. An article in the May 2, 1880, issue of The Atlanta Journal Constitution eloquently expressed the city’s response to the much needed new hospital:
“Atlanta has a new hospital at last. It is a permanent institution which will grow in importance and usefulness as the city’s needs increase. The new institution is called the Atlanta Hospital and is controlled by the Sisters of Mercy whose beautiful ministrations to the afflicted are known by all.”
The first hospital in the Southeast to perform open-heart surgery (1957)
The first hospital to develop a comprehensive cardiac catheterization laboratory (1967)
The first hospital to provide angioplasty as an alternative to bypass surgery. (One of only two adult heart transplant centers in the state.)
Continue to perform more open heart surgeries, cardiac catheterizations, angioplasties, and more vascular surgery than any other hospital in metro Atlanta and Georgia.
In 2002, Saint Joseph's became the first hospital in Georgia - and one of only a few in the nation - to perform robotic-assisted, totally-endoscopic, closed-chest heart surgery.
The only training site in the Southeast for the da Vinci Surgical System.
In 2004, Saint Joseph's acquired the Leksell Gamma Knife C, the most technologically advanced means of treating life threatening brain diseases.
In 2003, Saint Joseph's acquired the American Cardiology Research Institute (ACRI), one of the country's premier cardiovascular research laboratories.
In 2004, Saint Joseph's was one of only three hospitals in the nation to receive the Magnet Recognition for Nursing Excellence for the third time, remaining in the top one percent of hospitals in the country.
Also in 2004, Saint Joseph's was designated as a Premium Cardiac Specialty Center as part of UnitedHealth Group's new Premium Network
J.D. Power and Associates has recognized Saint Joseph's as a Distinguished Hospital for Service Excellence providing an outstanding patient experience in 2004 & 2005.
For two consecutive years (2004, 2005), HealthGrades, the nation's leading provider of health care quality information, rated Saint Joseph's a distinguished hospital for clinical excellence, placing it in the top 5% of hospitals in the country.
For the fourth consecutive year, Solucient, a national health care information company, named Saint Joseph's one of the nation's 100 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals and one of the 100 Top Orthopaedic Hospitals.
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