Our History
A Tradition of Personal Care and Local Commitment
The opening of Methodist Hospital in 1973 was a culmination of a decade-long effort to expand health care services for a rural community in need. When Methodist Hospital opened its doors, the City of Sacramento found a solution to the overall bed shortage and the pressing problem of not having a local hospital in the south part of town.
In a letter signed by the State of California Governor's Office Edmund G. Brown, dated May 18, 1965, founder, Justice Frank K. Richardson, was commended for his efforts to establish a hospital under the auspices of the Methodist Church. In the letter, Governor Brown, expressed his concern for the welfare of the sick and injured citizens as the rapid growth in population far outstripped the expansion of the total hospital capability of the area. "Your plans for prompt construction of 169 acute beds in the South Area will be a major step toward relieving the pressure on existing hospitals and reducing the overall bed shortage ... I heartily commend your group for its ambitious and imaginative approach toward the solution of a pressing community problem."
In 1993, Methodist Hospital signed an affiliation agreement with Mercy Healthcare Sacramento. The affiliation allowed Methodist Hospital to continue its commitment to providing care to a growing community while also enhancing services such as cardiac care and trauma through other Mercy hospitals in the Sacramento Valley.
Now, more than three decades later, Methodist Hospital has grown with the community, serving millions of people. And just as the south part of the county has blossomed into a vital community, healthcare resources have grown from the "little hospital south of town," into a comprehensive medical campus with a
Family Birth Center
,
surgical services
, diagnostic imaging services, an
Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Center
including hand therapy, rehabilitation services and a
Family Practice Residency Program
, just to name a few.
Methodist Hospital is part of Catholic Healthcare West, the largest Catholic healthcare system based in the western United States with 41 hospitals and two medical practice groups in California, Arizona and Nevada.
CHW is sponsored by eight religious orders. CHW hospitals and clinics care for more than 300,000 patients a year; employ approximately 34,000 people; and provide more than $400 million annually in community benefits and care for the poor.
