50 Years of Caring

CHRISTUS Hospital – St. Elizabeth celebrates 50 years of operation on Calder Street.

Join with us as we acknowledge the growth of our health ministry, the medical advancements which are integral to our care, and the important events that have led to our healthcare leadership in the region.

Beaumont was a city of 8,000 residents.

Lumber, cattle ranching, and rice farming led the economy.

The riverboats and railroads provided transportation that encouraged expansion.

The ambitious young community assessed its needs and decided that a hospital was a priority.

A request was made to the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word in Galveston to found a hospital in Beaumont.

Two Sisters arrived to select a site. They arranged for the purchase of a half block of ground on the banks of the Neches River for $700.

Starting a tradition that would continue for more than a century, the Sisters turned to the people of Beaumont to help them build the hospital.

The name for the hospital had already been chosen:

Hotel Dieu – the House of God.

Families that were early benefactors to the Sisters included: Fletcher, McFaddin, Broussard, and Hebert.

Hotel Dieu Hospital opened without ceremony. The three-story frame building was designed to care for 24 patients, as well as provide housing for the Sisters.

A caretaker’s garden provided much of the food for both Sisters and patients.

When a smallpox epidemic broke out, the Sisters worked selflessly night and day, forgetting the danger of contagion – thinking only of the welfare and comfort of their patients.

Patillo Higgins and Anthony Lucas struck oil at Spindletop. The population jumped to 50,000 – finally stabilizing at about 20,000.

Like most of the town, the little hospital was very overcrowded.

So the Sisters added a frame building to increase the bed capacity to 80.

A building known as the Ryan Cottage was purchased as a residence for nurses and soon became the Hotel Dieu School of Nursing.

Sister M. Placidus Mulcahy, later Mother General of the Congregation, was the first Director of Nurses.

The Sisters and nurses performed most duties at Hotel Dieu, working 12-hour shifts to care for patients, clean the wards, wash bedding, and sterilize instruments.

The Sisters purchased property on Sabine Pass Avenue to build a larger and more substantial hospital to meet the needs of the growing town.

A four-story brick building, equipped with all modern facilities, was dedicated and ready for occupancy, bringing the bed capacity to 150.

The physicians, the Sisters, and their co-workers pursued their mission to the sick and poor at Hotel Dieu throughout the Depression.

The Sisters of Charity purchased a hospital already in operation – Beaumont General Hospital. The name for the new acquisition was St. Therese Hospital.

St. Therese and Hotel Dieu hospitals were operated by the Sisters as separate institutions, along with St. Mary Hospital – a 150-bed hospital and School of Nursing in Port Arthur.

Mr. and Mrs. J.H. Phelan, Sr., donated $50,000 for a new chapel at Hotel Dieu in memory of Mrs. Phelan’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Cunningham.

A new convent was built, as the old one was dilapidated. Furnishings for the Sisters’ new home were donated by Mr. and Mrs. J.E. Broussard.

On the campus of Hotel Dieu, the Sisters built Rosary Hall – a new school and residence for nurses – and St. Martin de Porres Hospital, which provided 75 beds.

Babe Didrikson Zaharias, a Beaumont native, underwent surgery at Hotel Dieu. The nurses wrote: “The greatest golfer of all times… let the nursing students in on all her secrets.”

The need for a larger, more modern hospital was evident. With help from the community, plans for raising funds began.

A.J. Coburn, president of Coburn Supply Co., led the citywide fund drive.

Mr. & Mrs. J.H. Phelan, Sr., donated their family estate on Calder Avenue to the congregation The Phelan home was to serve as a convent, and the 15 acres of property used for a new hospital.

The stately and elegant Phelan home was estimated to be worth $1.5 million in 1956. It was the most generous philanthropic gift in the history of Beaumont.

In May, the new six-story, 231-bed St. Elizabeth Hospital opened.

Construction cost

of the new hospital was $6 million.

Twenty-six Sisters worked within the hospital, with Sr. Mary Gerard Houston as the first administrator.

Employing 325, the hospital featured large and well-equipped patient rooms (each with a telephone and TV), comfortable waiting rooms, elevators, and, of course, air-conditioning.

The area’s first coronary care unit and

first intensive care unit were opened at St. Elizabeth.

St. Elizabeth Hospital expanded to 280 beds.

St. Elizabeth Hospital expanded to 280 beds.

About a year later, work began to add

66 more beds and expand support facilities.

The J.C. Crager Cardiac Pavilion opened under the direction of Drs. Thomas Lombardo and Joseph Reeves.

The first heart catheterization lab was opened. Dr. Thomas Lombardo performed the first heart catheterization procedure.

A 27-bed Neurological Pavilion was opened. Drs. Starr, Rafes, and Faulk were leaders in the field of Neurosurgery, along with a young Dr. Mark Kubala.

A $1 million parking garage was built to accommodate 580 cars for the expanding facility.

A new Emergency Center at 14th and North Street opened.

Major renovations to the surgery and pathology departments took place.

The radiology department installed a new diagnostic system called the computerized axial tomography (CAT) body scanner.

The Mamie McFaddin Ward Cancer Center opened at St. Elizabeth with a generous donation to honor Mrs. Ward.

A $27 million expansion project throughout the hospital was also completed.

The project included a four-story wing on the west side of the hospital.

This expansion increased the total number of beds to 469 – 419 of them private.

With a generous donation from H.E. and Kate Dishman, the Kate Dishman Rehabilitation Center was opened on the hospital’s sixth floor.

The Center for New Life opened with 19 beds.

It was the area’s first single-room maternity care unit.

The Heart Institute at St. Elizabeth Hospital began the area’s first cardiac rehabilitation program.

The 120,000 sq-ft Wilton P. Hebert Health & Wellness Center and medical office building was built on the campus of St. Elizabeth.

Construction was made possible with a donation of $1 million from the Wilton P. and Effie Mae HebertFoundation.

The Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word in Houston and San Antonio formed CHRISTUS Health.

CHRISTUS Hospital- St. Elizabeth & St. Mary and CHRISTUS Jasper Memorial Hospital are an integral part of the faith-based, not-for-profit health system.

The hospital completed construction of a $9 million, five-story parking garage on Calder between 14th and 15th streets to accommodate 936 vehicles.

The 260,000 sq-ft CHRISTUS Outpatient Pavilion (OPP) located on 11th Street between Harrison and North opened in June.

Dedicated departments with the OPP include imaging, outpatient surgery, lab, diabetes education, as well as the Tracy Byrd Hyperbaric Medicine and Wound Care Center.

The Spine and Orthopedic Specialty Center opened to provide care for patients undergoing state-of-the-art joint replacement and spine surgery.

The Southeast Texas Bariatric Center opened to provide innovative programs and services to safely and effectively treat obesity.

The Spine and Orthopedic Specialty Center opened to provide care for patients undergoing state-of-the-art joint replacement and spine surgery.

A new Emergency Department opened

in March 2011. The new west-side ambulatory entrance features state-of-the-art rapid assessment and treatment areas, as well as modern and spacious design and décor.

Major renovations to the Center for New Life were completed.

CHRISTUS Hospital-St. Elizabethis a 438-bed healthcare facility, employs more than 1,650, and is the largest Magnet Hospital between Houston and Baton Rouge.

St. Elizabeth is the regional leader in spine and orthopedics, cardiology, oncology, general surgery, imaging, bariatrics, birthing, and neonatal care.

Our nursing professionals and nationally recognized physicians work at the forefront of research, clinical trials, treatment, and care.

The success of our evolving history has been made possible through unique gifts, values, spirit, and commitment to something larger than each of us –

The success of our evolving history has been made possible through unique gifts, values, spirit, and commitment to something larger than each of us –

the joyful spirit of God’s healing love.

As we celebrate 50 years of caring, we endeavor to continue the mission of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word –

to extend the healing ministry of Jesus Christ.

Our goal is to forever bring their mission to life.