Heritage Wall

Our hospital’s more than 120-year heritage, handed down by the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis, was built upon the values that every person is a treasure, every life a sacred gift and every human being is a unity of body, mind and spirit.

This heritage established the foundation for care for others when they are sick or in need, regardless of race, creed, or ability to pay.

The beginning: St. Francis

The story begins in 1182 in Assisi, Italy, with the birth and conversion of St. Francis and continues in Telgte, Germany, where the congregation of the Hospital Sisters was founded in 1844. Answering a request for help in establishing a hospital in America, 20 Sisters embarked on a long Atlantic voyage through terrible storms and traveled to Illinois in 1875 to care for the sick in homes and to found hospitals. Hospitals were also started in Wisconsin, including Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire.

Coming to Eau Claire

Responding to a plea by community leaders in Eau Claire, the first Hospital Sisters arrived on October 7, 1889, to found Sacred Heart Hospital. A cottage on 526 North Putnam Avenue was provided by Mrs. Ann Fitzpatrick for the Sisters’ temporary residence. The Sisters used the second floor as their staging area to care for the sick, store supplies for the new hospital being constructed nearby and—during the long winter evenings—sew pillows and mattresses by lamplight using Mrs. Fitzpatrick’s sewing machine.

A Living Connection to History

Sacred Heart Hospital is sponsored by the Hospital Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis, a multicultural congregation with Provinces and Regions throughout the world. They are committed to living the Gospel in the spirit of St. Francis, dedicated to the mission of bringing Christ’s healing presence to the sick, poor and marginalized.