Employees across Merrimack Health gathered last month to celebrate two historic milestones that collectively represent 225 years of caring for the Merrimack Valley – the 150th anniversary of Lawrence Hospital (formerly known as Lawrence General Hospital) and the 75th anniversary of Methuen Hospital (formerly known as Holy Family Hospital, founded in 1950 as Bon Secours Hospital).
The celebrations brought together current and former employees to reflect on their workplace histories and founding beliefs that health care was and is a shared responsibility of the community. The events also included remarks from Merrimack Health President and CEO Diana Richardson, as well as Board Chair Lane Glenn, president of Northern Essex Community College. Lawrence and Methuen Hospitals also displayed citations that were recently awarded by Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll.
“While these hospitals were founded in different times and under different circumstances, their missions have always been closely aligned,” said Richardson. “These moments remind us that the work we do today is part of a much larger story of serving our community, then, now and always.”
The roots of Lawrence Hospital trace back to 1875, when a group of civic-minded women formed the Ladies’ Union Charitable Society to support mill worker families in the rapidly growing city by creating a day nursery to care for workers’ children, especially when they were sick. Their efforts expanded during a scarlet fever outbreak the following year, when physician Dr. Susan Crocker helped lead the effort to provide free medical care for those in need. Over time, that work grew into the hospital that continues to serve the region today, including the establishment of a training school for nurses that operated from 1882 to the late 1970s.
Methuen Hospital was founded in 1950 by the Sisters of Bon Secours, and named Bon Secours Hospital after the Catholic order that established and ran the hospital. Bon Secours, French for “Good Help,” reflected the sisters’ commitment to care for the sick and those in need, and the promise to provide health care to all with compassion, dignity and respect. One million dollars was raised by working families and local businesses to build the hospital, which would be worth roughly $13 million today.
As part of these milestone celebrations, hospital leaders presented the contents of time capsules from Lawrence and Methuen Hospitals. In Lawrence, the 1976 time capsule, which was unearthed during construction activity several years ago, held examples of medical equipment such as a pacemaker, along with hospital documents, Yellow Pages telephone books, surgical care textbooks and old menus given to patients.
In Methuen, a time capsule from 1982 contained letters and messages from employees reflecting on their love of the hospital and offering well-wishes to future caregivers, including one from Methuen resident Veronica La Torre, who attended the event to see her own message read aloud. In her note, La Torre had written that by the time the capsule was opened, she hoped to be “retired and in my 70s, God willing.”
For more information about Merrimack Health, visit mhlawrencehospital.org/.
Merrimack Health employees in Methuen and Lawrence gathered last month to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the former Holy Family (formerly Bon Secours) Hospital and the 150th anniversary of the former Lawrence General Hospital. Here, Lawrence Hospital employees review the contents of 1976 time capsule. Courtesy photos
Methuen Hospital employees view contents of 1982 time capsule.
