Saint Joseph Mercy Health System

In 1911, four Sisters of Mercy arrived in Ann Arbor from Dubuque, Iowa. They came at the invitation of local medical and religious leaders who dreamed of founding a community hospital to serve area residents. That dream became a reality on November 21, 1911, when the Sisters opened St. Joseph's Sanitarium, a small hospital located in a former student rooming house at the corner of State and Kingsley streets.

The little hospital had a nine-member medical staff and 17 beds on the second and third floors, including eight private rooms. Surgeons operated on the first floor, then carried their patients up the stairs to their rooms above. In its first year, 243 patients were admitted.

By 1914, St. Joe's had moved to a new facility on Ingalls Street. In 1977, the hospital relocated to its present location on East Huron River Drive.

Merging in 2010,[2] IHA Health Services is a wholly owned subsidiary of St. Joseph Health System.[3] IHA is the largest, fully integrated physician group practice in southeast Michigan, with approximately 70 practice locations and 650 providers.[4]