PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center

PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center
PeaceHealth
Geography
Location	2901 Squalicum Parkway, Bellingham, Washington, Washington, United States
Coordinates	48°46′24″N122°28′26″W / 48.7734°N 122.4739°W / 48.7734; -122.4739
Services
Emergency department	Level II trauma center
Beds	251
Helipad	FAA LID: WN73
Public transit access	WTA [a]
History
Former name(s)	St. Joseph Hospital
Opened	January 1891
Links
Website	PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center
Lists	Hospitals in Washington state

PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center (commonly shortened to St. Joe's) ^[2] is a hospital operated by PeaceHealth in Bellingham, Washington. Its trauma center is the Haggen Family Emergency and Trauma Center, a level II trauma center. ^[3]

The hospital provides general medical care, as well as specialized treatment for heart and joint conditions and cancer. ^[4] It is the only hospital in Whatcom County. ^[5] They have 251 licensed beds. ^[6]

History

St. Joseph Hospital was opened in January 1891, established by nuns of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace; it was the first hospital established by what is now PeaceHealth. ^[7] St. Joseph was originally located in a two-story home in Fairhaven with 30 beds. The hospital moved to their first permanent home—on Forest Street—in 1901. It moved to a suburban campus in 1966 centered around an 81-bed building. St. Joseph acquired the crosstown St. Luke's Hospital in 1989 after the two hospitals agreed to end their long rivalry. ^[8]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the hospital changed its visitation policies multiple times, but opened patients to one visitor at a time starting in September 2022 and two visitors starting in October of that year. ^{[9] [10]}

Helipad

The hospital's helipad ^[b] is often used to airlift patients to Harborview Medical Center, ^[12] the only level I trauma center in the state. Medical airlift services at St. Joseph are operated by AirLift Northwest ^[13] and Life Flight Network. ^[14]

Video of airlift helicopter at St. Joseph Medical Center
Airlift 6 Touching Down via Facebook

Rankings

The hospital was ranked number 9 in the state of Washington by U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals Rankings. ^[15]

Notes

1. The hospital is served by WTA's route Hospital/Cordata – Hospital/Downtown ^[1]
2. Officially registered with the Federal Aviation Administration as "ST JOSEPH HOSPITAL MAIN CAMPUS HELIPORT" ^[11]

References

1. "St Joseph Hospital". Whatcom Transportation Authority .
2. Schwartz, Ralph (May 31, 2023). "Fired from St. Joe's, Bellingham doctor stands his ground". Cascadia Daily News . Retrieved November 11, 2023.
3. "Haggen Family Emergency and Trauma Center at PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center". PeaceHealth . Retrieved November 11, 2023.
4. "PeaceHealth Medical Group/PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center". bellingham.org. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
5. "Bellingham, Washington". UW Pediatrics. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
6. "PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center, Whatcom County" (PDF). PeaceHealth .
7. • "The PeaceHealth Story: The Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace: A Heritage of Healing and Compassionate Care". PeaceHealth . Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
   • "Our History". PeaceHealth.
   • "Our Community History in the Pacific Northwest". PeaceHealth.
   • RetrievedNovember 10, 2023.
8. Ferm, Carol (January 8, 1991). "A century of hospital care". The Bellingham Herald. p. C1. Retrieved November 14, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
9. Smith, Adam (September 7, 2022). "Bellingham hospital rolls back COVID visitor restrictions". 790 KGMI . Retrieved November 11, 2023.
10. PeaceHealth (October 26, 2022). "PeaceHealth Eases Visitation Policy Further as Whatcom County Transmission Rates Continue to Decline". WhatcomTalk. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
11. "Location Identifiers Search Tool". Federal Aviation Administration . WN73.
12. As attributed in news sources such as:
    • "Whatcom man airlifted after reportedly being hit on purpose by driver following argument". The Bellingham Herald. July 6, 2021.
    • "July crash on Eldridge Avenue occurred after driver appeared to fall asleep, victim airlifted to Harborview Medical Center". Whatcom News. August 5, 2021.
13. Benoit, Matt (November 24, 2018). "AirLift Northwest's Randy Nash: Flying to Save Lives". WhatcomTalk. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
14. "Life Flight Network". January 13, 2021 – via Facebook.
15. "PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center". U.S. News Best Hospitals. U.S. News & World Report . Retrieved November 10, 2023.