In the summer of 1960, a small rural hospital opened in Jefferson City. Jefferson Memorial Hospital was built with Hill-Burton government funds — a post depression and World War II program to build and update hospitals in under-served areas. The facility was located next to Carson-Newman College.
37 years later, the city and county-owned hospital joined St. Mary's Health System, based in Knoxville. In just a few years, St. Mary's purchased 121 acres of farmland along the western edge of Jefferson City and built a state-of-the-art, $20 million hospital and medical office building that opened in January 2001. The facility sits on 18 acres, leaving 103 acres for future development.
Today, the hospital, its physicians, nurses and leaders continue to play a major role in the progress of Jefferson and surrounding counties. St. Mary's not only produces cutting-edge medical care and economic development here, but also a bumper crop of corn on its still undeveloped property next door.
