OSF St Francis Hospital in Escanaba, Delta County, United States | Hospital

Welcome to the OSF St Francis Hospital, Escanaba, United States. The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis have been providing health care to residents of the Upper Peninsula since 1884. After serving the sick at the Delta County Hospital, the Sisters purchased the building and renamed it St. Francis Hospital. Located on South 14th Street, the facility was rebuilt in 1927 after a fire, and a new wing was added in 1957. When the current OSF St Francis Hospital building was dedicated in August 1986, the old facility was torn down, and the property sold.The OSF St. Francis Hospital story begins 123 years ago in Bismarck's Germany, in the village of Herford. There, a group of sisters taught school and took care of orphans until violent persecution of the Catholic Church began, and the sisters were exiled from the country. The little group of 29 Sisters took refuge in the United States, settling in Iowa City, Iowa. In 1876, the pastor of St. Joseph's Church in Peoria requested that the sisters establish a Hospital there, and the first St. Francis Hospital was founded by The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis, East Peoria, Illinois.

In 1883, a request to provide health care in Delta County came from Rev. Eugene Butterman, OFM, then pastor of St. Joseph's Church in Escanaba. County officials in Escanaba had built the Delta County Hospital to provide for the community's health care needs, but it was difficult to keep it sufficiently staffed with good nursing personnel. The mayor and the county physician approached Father Butterman to obtain sisters for the nursing staff. In an agreement signed February 12, 1884, the sisters would conduct the Hospital and be paid as nurses by the city of Escanaba. The first administrator was Sister Barbara.

Later, in 1957 and 1958, the Hospital conducted a community fund-raising campaign to construct the wing built in 1959. The current Hospital building was constructed in 1986. Throughout their history, the Sisters have worked hard to ensure up-to-date facilities and quality care for all the citizens of Delta County and the surrounding areas. This completes the story of OSF St Francis Hospital's first century of care. As we remember the past and rejoice in the present, we also look forward to our future and our continued commitment to providing the highest quality health care possible to the patients we serve.