Historic Timeline

On Oct. 10, 1900, five members of the Sisters of Misericorde arrived in Green Bay from Montreal, Canada, upon the request of Green Bay Bishop Sebastian Messmer who saw a need for the care of unwed mothers and their babies in the community. 

Part of the Sisters’ mission was to create a home for orphaned children, and help arrange for adoptions. They lived and carried out their work in a rundown, abandoned home owned by the Green Bay Diocese at 435 S. Webster Ave. The Sisters referred to this home as their “creche,” which is French for “cradle.”  

The new hospital, St. Mary’s Hospital, opened for patient care on July 3, 1903, near the Sisters’ home on the city’s east side.  It also included a school for nurses, St. Mary’s School of Nursing, to provide education and help staff the facility. 

More than 20,000 patients had been cared for at St. Mary’s Hospital by 1925, and it became the first in the region to be approved by the American College of Surgeons. The hospital provided surgical, emergency, obstetrics, pediatric care and more throughout its early years.  

A new St. Mary’s Hospital opened on Green Bay’s west side along Shawano Avenue, where the current hospital stands today. The move of patients and equipment from the old east side hospital took place in one day on Oct. 10, 1960. The project was called “Operation White Cap” because all the moving volunteers wore white caps.  

The east side hospital was used as a home for the aged and chronically ill until was closed in 1962 and razed in 1964.  

The Sisters of Misericorde’s work in housing unwed mothers and orphaned children expanded and transitioned to new facilities throughout the years, but the program officially ended in 1973 as society began to accept these women and their children more freely.  

Ground was broken on the front lawn of St.  Mary’s Hospital for necessary new facilities. Care continued in the existing facility as crews worked to construct what would become the new hospital.  

Left: Enjoying the long-awaited ground breaking ceremony were (from left): Sr. Marie Clare Scheible, Assistant Administrator; Sr. Rose Noelke, Pastoral Care; Sr. Lou Ann Moon, RN, Special Care Unit; Sr. Josepha Schaeffer, Assistant Administrator; and Alyson and Sara Laabs, daughters of St. Mary's Administrator Allison Laabs, play in dirt.

Above: A Sister assists in laying bricks for the construction of the new hospital.  

On Nov. 16, 1981, the new, 158-bed St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center officially opened for patient care. Seventy-two patients were transferred from the old facility within two hours, and Medical Staff President Dr. Rolf Lulloff performed the first surgery in the new facility that same day.  

The new hospital and old facility were connected, and the old facility became referred to as the North Building. That eventually became clinic space for the hospital’s physician partners. 

The new hospital at 1726 Shawano Ave. was the first all private-room hospital in Northeast Wisconsin. A new parking lot was also added to the campus, and the existing lots were refurnished.  

Left: Sr. Josepha Schaeffer, OSF, stands in front of the entrance to the newly constructed hospital in 1981.        

In July 1989, St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center and its sister hospital, St. Joseph's Hospital of Chippewa Falls, WI, opened Libertas - a 24-bed inpatient facility for chemically dependent adolescents on the St. Mary’s campus. (Note: In 2025, Libertas Treatment Center remains on the hospital campus, providing outpatient care for those in our community with substance use disorders.)

St. Mary's Hospital Medical Center, St. Vincent Hospital and two independent clinics - Beaumont-Webster Clinic and West Side Clinic in Green Bay – joined to create one physician group to serve both hospitals and create a coordinated system of care. They named it, Prevea Health Services, Inc., which is known today as Prevea Health, and co-owned by HSHS.  

A regional cancer center opened on St. Mary's Hospital Medical Center's campus to offer patients expanded space for chemotherapy, radiation therapy and other cancer treatment services in one convenient west-side location. 

Above: The 115,000-square-foot cancer center addition includes healing gardens and water features.

The first cases of COVID-19 were reported in Northeast Wisconsin in 2020, putting local hospitals on the front lines for the first time since the start of the pandemic. Brown County experienced some of the highest confirmed numbers of COVID-19 cases in the nation, putting strain on all area hospitals. HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center played a critical role in the care and protection of its communities throughout the pandemic.  

Also in 2020: 

With the help of a grant from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center established a CNA school to address the shortage of certified nursing assistants. The program is unique in that students are compensated while they complete their schooling and graduate from the program with a job. The program successfully continues today, enhancing our workforce in the HSHS hospitals and the regional health care landscape.  

Also in 2020:

HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center and Prevea Health established Green Bay’s first family medicine physician residency program in partnership with the Medical College of Wisconsin.  

HSHS and Prevea Health opened the Green Bay area’s first multi-specialty ambulatory surgery center at 1830 Shawano Ave. next to HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center. 

The state-of-the-art Prevea Surgery Center offers same-day, outpatient surgical procedures for a variety of medical specialties for adults and children. 

Today, more than half of all surgeries performed in the U.S. are done on an outpatient basis. Yet, there is still a critical need for hospital surgical settings for things like emergencies and complex surgeries that require a hospital stay. 

The existence of both the Prevea Surgery Center and the HSHS hospitals in Green Bay ensures patients are receiving the best possible care, in the best possible location for the very best value.  

HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center celebrates 125 years of service in the Green Bay community. Prevea Health, HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center, HSHS St. Vincent Hospital, HSHS St. Nicholas Hospital (Sheboygan, WI) and HSHS St. Clare Memorial Hospital (Oconto Falls, WI) continue their strong partnership to provide coordinated, seamless care to patients from across Northeast Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.