Our History

1915
St. Joseph Hospital moves into a five-story, modern building occupying an entire block along I Street between South 18th and South 19th streets. The facility eventually had capacity for as many as 300 private and semi-private beds. The hospital was the center for advanced and specialized care within the community.

1949
Enumclaw Community Hospital opens with 22 beds.

1974
The new St. Joseph Medical Center opens. Designed by renowned architect Bertrand Goldberg, it features an innovative tower that reflects Goldberg’s theory of “nuclear design.” Patient rooms were clustered to form “villages” around nursing stations, facilitating eye contact, and communication between patients and nurses. St. Joseph Medical Center was declared one of the most efficient health care facilities on the West Coast. The medical center tower remains an icon on the Tacoma skyline.

1987
St. Francis Hospital opens in Federal Way. It remains the only hospital in the growing community of South King County.

1990
Franciscan Health System acquires Lakewood General Hospital; the hospital is renamed St. Clare Hospital.

1996
Franciscan Health System joined Catholic Health Initiatives. Based in Englewood, Colorado, Catholic Health Initiatives is one of the largest nonprofit health systems in the United States.

1999
Franciscan Medical Group forms with six clinics. Since then, Franciscan Medical Group has become one of the leading multi-specialty medical groups in the Pacific Northwest with clinics, doctors, and other providers in Pierce, King, and Kitsap counties.

2003
The Outpatient Center at St. Francis Hospital opens, offering diagnostic imaging, day surgery, a gastrointestinal lab, radiation oncology, and physical, speech and occupational rehabilitation services.

2004
The Outpatient Center at St. Joseph Medical Center opens. The facility features the newest medical technology, a serene healing environment, an efficient admissions process, and access to a broad range of services. The outpatient center was designed by Callison Architecture. It was declared one of the best-designed health care facilities in the U.S., winning a national design award from Modern Healthcare magazine.

2005
Franciscan Hospice House opens in University Place, near Tacoma. It is the only inpatient hospice facility in the South Puget Sound region.

St. Clare Specialty Center, a state-of-the-art medical office building connected to St. Clare Hospital, opens. The Specialty Center houses doctors' offices and several of the hospital's outpatient programs.

2006
Franciscan Medical Group opens its 35th clinic, St. Anthony Prompt Care in Gig Harbor (now called Franciscan Prompt Care – Gig Harbor). The staff provides urgent care for minor illnesses and injuries.

2007
Enumclaw Regional Hospital joins the Franciscan Health System, becoming the fourth hospital in the growing organization.

2009
St. Anthony Hospital opens in Gig Harbor, becoming the fifth hospital in the Franciscan Health System. A sky bridge connects the hospital to the Milgard Medical Pavilion, home to doctors’ offices and numerous outpatient services.

2011
St. Elizabeth Hospital opens in February 2011 in Enumclaw, replacing Enumclaw Regional Hospital as the community's acute-care facility

2013
The Franciscan Medical Building at St. Joseph opens. The patient destination center includes five floors of medical services, retail pharmacy, laboratory, and café.

Highline Medical Center in Burien and the Highline Medical Group affiliates with Virginia Mason Franciscan Health.

The Franciscan Medical Pavilion in Bonney Lake opens. The state-of-the art facility houses family medicine, an urgent care, digital X-ray, on-site laboratory, and retail pharmacy.  Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton and Silverdale affiliates with Virginia Mason Franciscan Health.

Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton and Silverdale affiliates with Virginia Mason Franciscan Health.

2014
Regional Hospital, the region’s first long-term acute care hospital, affiliates with Virginia Mason Franciscan Health.

2021
CHI Franciscan and Virginia Mason finalize agreement to form Virginia Mason Franciscan Health.