# SSM Health

SSM Health (an initialism of Sisters of Saint Mary) is a Catholic, non-profit United States health care system. It has 11,000 providers and nearly 39,000 employees in four states: Missouri, Illinois, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin.
Based in St. Louis, Missouri, SSM Health owns hospitals, pediatric medical centers, outpatient centers, clinics, surgery centers, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, physician offices, emergency centers, rehabilitation facilities, urgent care centers, home care, and hospice.

## History of SSM Health

SSM Health traces its roots to 1872, when Mother Mary Odilia Berger and four other sisters came to St. Louis from Germany, after caring for sick and wounded soldiers during the Franco-Prussian War. Facing religious persecution in Germany, they came to the United States. When they arrived in St. Louis they began providing nursing care to people in their own homes. That winter, when a smallpox epidemic hit St. Louis, the sisters cared for the sick and dying. For a short time, people referred to them as the Smallpox Sisters. In 1874, the congregation received its formal name: the Sisters of St. Mary (SSM) from the parish where their convent was located, St. Mary of Victories near the riverfront in St. Louis.
Five years after their arrival in St. Louis, the sisters borrowed $16,000, to open their first hospital, St. Mary's Infirmary. Almost 60 percent of their patients were unable to pay for their health care services. Account ledgers from this time identify those who were unable to pay for their services as an “ODL,” a designation that stood for “Our Dear Lord’s.” During this time, the sisters relied on God to provide for their needs as they cared for the poor.
Most of the health care facilities that today belong to SSM Health were previously part of a group of hospitals owned by the Sisters of St. Mary and centrally governed, but not centrally managed. In the mid-1980s, the sponsoring congregation decided to reorganize its hospitals into a system of centrally managed health care providers, and SSM Health was created in 1986. Today the system is managed by a team of professionals—both lay and religious—and governed by members of the sponsoring congregation as well as by laypersons from the communities served by its facilities.
In 2012, SSM Health stated that it was 'disappointed with the contraceptive mandate' regarding being legally forced to cover such items by the Affordable Care Act, against Catholic freedom of conscience.
In 2013, Dean Health System, a large multi-specialty physician group and health plan, finalized a deal to merge Dean and its subsidiaries, including Dean Health Plan, into SSM Health. The merger became effective on September 1, 2013, after all necessary regulatory approvals were received.
In 2018, SSM rebranded its Oklahoma hospitals from "St. Anthony" to "SSM Health St. Anthony". The health system's physician's group in the state became known as SSM Health Medical Group. Also in 2018, SSM Health acquired Agnesian HealthCare from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.
SSM Health is sponsored by the Franciscan Sisters of Mary and is one of the largest Catholic hospital systems in the United States.

## Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award

In 2002, SSM Health became the first health care organization in history to receive the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the highest award for quality in the U.S.

## SSM Health Facilities
### Missouri

* SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital
* SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital
* SSM Health DePaul Hospital - St. Louis
* SSM Health St. Clare Hospital - Fenton
* SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital - Lake Saint Louis
* SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital - St. Charles
* SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital - Wentzville
* SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital - St. Louis
* SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital - Jefferson City

### Oklahoma

* SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital - Oklahoma City - Main Campus
* SSM Health St. Anthony Bone & Joint Hospital (Oklahoma City)
* SSM Health St. Anthony Healthplex East (Oklahoma City)
* SSM Health St. Anthony Healthplex North (Oklahoma City)
* SSM Health St. Anthony Healthplex South (Oklahoma City)
* SSM Health St. Anthony Healthplex Mustang (Oklahoma City metro)
* SSM Health St. Anthony Healthplex El Reno (Oklahoma City metro)
* SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital Shawnee (Oklahoma City metro)
* SSM Health Urgent Care Shawnee (Shawnee)
* SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital - Midwest Midwest City, Oklahoma (Oklahoma city metro)
* SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital - Shawnee, Seminole Campus (Seminole)

### Wisconsin

* SSM Health St. Clare Hospital - Baraboo
* SSM Health St. Clare Meadows Care Center Baraboo
* SSM Health St Mary's Hospital - Madison
* SSM Health St. Mary's Care Center - Madison
* SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital - Janesville
* Dean Health Plan - Madison
* SSM Health Dean Medical Group - Madison
* SSM Health St. Agnes Hospital - Fond du Lac
* SSM Health Waupun Memorial Hospital - Waupun
* SSM Health Ripon Community HospitalCenter - Ripon
* SSM Health Monroe Clinic Medical Group
* SSM Health Monroe Hospital
* SSM Health Dean Medical Group - Stoughton
* SSM Health Stoughton Hospital - Stoughton

### Illinois

* SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital - Centralia
* SSM Health Good Samaritan Hospital - Mt. Vernon