The Sisters of Saint Joseph of Baden are a branch of a religious family founded in France in 1650 by Father Jean Pierre Medaille, a Jesuit. He recognized a desire of women in his parishes for union with God and union of all people with one another.

The congregation grew for more than 160 years until its existence was severely threatened by the French Revolution. Re-established through the efforts of Sister St. John Fontbonne, the Sisters of Saint Joseph made their first U.S. foundation at Saint Louis in 1836, and entered the Diocese of Pittsburgh at Ebensburg in Cambria County in 1869.

In 1901 the Motherhouse of the Sisters of Saint Joseph was transferred from Ebensburg to Baden in Beaver County. Three years later, the Sisters entered the healthcare ministry when they established Saint Joseph Hospital and School of Nursing on Pittsburgh’s Southside.

Annals record that not long after the hospital opened, a woman about to give birth was found on the hospital’s steps. Mother Genevieve Ryan, the superior had her own bed brought down to a room on the first floor for the patient, and spent the rest of the night sleeping on a straight wooden chair in her office.

Saint Joseph Hospital and School of Nursing was founded at a time when the demands of a heavily industrialized city made it imperative that healthcare be easily accessible to all, particularly the mill workers who lived on the Southside who could not easily be transported across the river to Mercy Hospital. Responding to the needs of “the dear neighbor” has always characterized the efforts of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Baden. When local needs changed, Saint Joseph Hospital Administrator Sister Crescentia Mulvehill was instrumental in the consolidation of Saint Joseph Hospital and Homestead Hospital, establishing the mission of a compassionate care in an unprecedented merger. This consolidation became the South Hills Health System in 1977, and Sister Crescentia coordinated the construction of system’s Jefferson Hospital.

The Sisters of Saint Joseph of Baden continue “to serve all realms of human life, especially the poor,” through Villa Saint Joseph, a residential 120-bed nursing care facility on their Motherhouse campus in Baden.

For additional information on the Sisters of St. Joseph of Baden, please visit their homepage by clicking here.