St. Benedict’s Hospital, 1946
The Sisters of the Order of St. Benedict came to Ogden in 1945 to oversee construction of and to operate a new hospital at 30th Street and Polk. Sister Floretta was the mother superior, while Sister Mary Margaret served as the first administrator of the St. Benedict’s Hospital.
The hospital cost $1.6 million to complete and was considered one of the most modern hospitals in the West. Equipped with a central distribution system, staff could turn on oxygen in every room and department with a simple turn of a valve. There were also 150 patient rooms with deluxe furnishings.
The hospital officially opened for business on September 21, 1946, after 7,000 Ogden residents toured the facility the day before. One year after opening, the sisters also started a school of nursing. Nineteen students enrolled within the first year. The school operated for twenty years and later added respiratory therapy training as well.
St. Benedict’s was home to a polio ward during the epidemic in the 1950s. The hospital staff trained women volunteers in the care of polio patients so that they could pass those methods on to members of their church and civic organizations. Fundraising also helped provide equipment and supplies for the hospital. Senator Ira Huggins presented staff with a $25,000 check to equip the polio ward, and another $20,000 check from the community chest for other communicable diseases.
In 1977 the sisters opened an expanded facility in Washington Terrace. Today the hospital is part of the MountainStar Healthcare System and is called Ogden Regional Medical Center. After more than 60 years serving the Ogden community, the sisters closed their monastery and returned to the mother home in Minnesota.
Hospital dedication with Most Rev. Duane Hunt, Rev. Joseph Delaire, Rev. Martin Burke
