Mercy College of Nursing - Yearbook (San Diego, CA)

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J- - MOTHER MA R Y MICHAEL Mother Mary Michael came to San Diego in 1890. She and her fellow sisters, received the blessing of Rt. Rev. Francis Mora, Bishop of Monterey and Los Angeles. A temporary hospital was set up while a site was being chosen for the present Mercy Hospital. At twenty-nine years of age, Mother Mary Michael and the Sisters of Mercy undertook this mission with only fifty dollars in their pockets. They entered an area of the state that was not only depressed, but bigoted, hostile, and prejudiced. The Sisters struggled hard to make their dream come true and were gradually accepted as an asset by this community. In October of 1922, Mother Mary Michael died, a victim of a heart attack. She never saw her dream completed, to build a newer and bigger Mercy Hospital. She gave her life to God and the healing of the sick. What was begun by this wonderful woman is the basis for what Mercy Hospital and Mercy College of Nursing are today. 13

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The Beginning of a Dream, Through these pages, you will see a dream begin to develop into reality. With the determination and courage of Mother Mary Michael, and her fellow sisters, Mercy Hospital became the first hospital in San Diego. In two floors rented from the Grant Central Hotel, at Sixth and Market, the hospital began as St. Joseph ' s Dispensary. It was opened on July 9, 1890, for all patients in the San Diego area. The Sisters worked diligently in these two upper-story floors for a year until the new hospital was completed on University Avenue. St. Joseph ' s Dispensary

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St. Joseph ' s Sanitarium During the year after the opening of St. Joseph ' s Dispensary, the Sisters found the means to build a more adequate hospital. The site was chosen on University Avenue, in the Hillcrest area of San Diego. On April 25, 1891, St. Joseph ' s Sanitarium opened its doors to the people. It was a three-story building on ten acres of land, at a cost of $5, 200. At this time, there were nineteen patients. A home for the aged was built on the grounds, in 1893. After being enlarged twice, it served one hundred persons. A chapel, seating three hundred, was built in 1898, along with the addition of a west wing, which doubled its patient occupancy. The year 1900 saw the building of a two-story convent for the Sisters of Mercy, and in 1916, enough money was raised to build an annex to the east wing.