St. Elizabeth Hospital Records

The St. Elizabeth Hospital Collection documents the growth and day to day operations of the St. Elizabeth Medical Center and their Nursing School. This collection is arranged into five series, with two of those series each having three subseries. The largest of these series is the series of photographs, which document the growth and expansion of the physical hospital building as well as the staff housed within. Of particular note is the subseries of class photos produced by the attached Nursing School, documenting the graduating nurses from 1918 through 1974. The collection does not include medical records. All St. Elizabeth Hospital medical records were permanently destroyed by hospital personnel after 10 years, in accordance with the legal requirements and the hospital’s records retention policy.

Series I, Administration, consists of personnel and Chief of Staff files containing Thomas Beckett’s hiring information, correspondence, publications, and resignation documents. Meeting and committee minutes, the hospital’s policy manual, the 1959 Elizabethan Nursing School yearbook, intern training materials, and official correspondence is also included.

Series II, Ledgers, consists of 19 ledgers containing notes and patient information, such as admission date, diagnosis, physician seen, and discharge date.

Series III, Publications, consists of internal and external publications of SEMC staff members. It is divided into 3 subseries. Subseries IIIA, General Publications, contains published articles by hospital staff, as well as news articles about the hospital. Subseries IIIB, Annual reports, contains the financial reports that were made available to the community. Subseries IIIC, Newsletters, contains the multiple newsletters produced by the hospital, including the Elizabethan Network, an employee publication (1962-1970) printed in house, the Elizabethan Newsletter (1970-1978) produced both in and out of the facility, and the Franciscan Focus/News (1990-1991).

Series IV, Special Events, consists primarily of documents pertaining to the Centennial Celebration in 1978, as well as various other events organized by the hospital.

Series V, Visual Material, contains various photographs and negatives produced throughout the lifetime of the hospital providing visual representation of the hospital’s growth and operations. It is divided into 3 subseries. Subseries VA, Photographs, contains the photographs produced by the hospital. The photographs are grouped according to subject matter, i.e. staff photos, departmental photos, and building expansion. Subseries VA, Negatives, contains negatives of photographs including employee gatherings, building construction, medical operations, and staff photos. Subseries VB, Nursing School, contains the annual class photos of graduating students from the attached nursing school, officially established in 1929 and closed in 1974.