Providence Behavioral Health Hospital, formerly known as Providence Hospital, is a

faith-based Faith-based may refer to: * Faith-based organization * Faith-based community organizing * Faith-based school * White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships * Faith Based (film) ''Faith Based'' is a 2020 American comedy film ...

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

behavioral health and substance abuse medical center located in Holyoke, Massachusetts, providing non-emergency services. Founded in 1873 by the

Sisters of Providence of Holyoke The Sisters of Providence of Holyoke, Massachusetts, are a congregation of Roman Catholic religious sisters founded in 1892. History In November 1873, four Sisters of Charity from the House of Providence in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, came to ...

, Providence was originally the first full-service medical hospital in Holyoke, continuing until 1996 when it was converted to a psychiatric and behavioral health facility. In February 2020 the hospital announced it would cease all inpatient psychiatric services, citing a shortage of psychiatrists, effective June 30, 2020. The hospital will continue to maintain substance use disorder services as well as a methadone clinic. The hospital's adjacent Catherine Horan Medical Building also houses medical practices, as well as the Holyoke branch of the Massachusetts Office of the

Chief Medical Examiner The medical examiner is an appointed official in some American jurisdictions who is trained in pathology that investigates deaths that occur under unusual or suspicious circumstances, to perform post-mortem examinations, and in some jurisdictio ...

History

The hospital was first founded by the Sisters of Providence on November 7, 1873, in a small dwelling in

South Hadley Falls South Hadley (, ) is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 18,150 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. South Hadley is home to Mount Holyoke Colleg ...

to aid the sick and needy. In 1894 the Sisters opened a modern medical hospital in Holyoke on the corners of Dwight and Elm Streets, which also featured their residence on the top floor; the facility would serve more than 200,000 patients in its 64 years of use. The hospital's facility in downtown closed in June 1958 following the opening of its current facility in the month prior. The former facility was razed in the following year and the land leased to the city by the Diocese for additional downtown parking. The hospital would maintain a full emergency staff with medical specialists, surgeons, and an intensive care unit until 1996, when it closed and began transitioning into a behavioral care facility.

References

{{authority control Catholic hospitals in North America Hospitals in Hampden County, Massachusetts Hospitals established in 1873 1873 establishments in Massachusetts Holyoke, Massachusetts