News Room - Press Releases

News Release
For Immediate Release
For more information, contact:
Julie Paulina: (757) 889-5910
Pager (757) 475-5087
Bon Secours DePaul Medical Center Marketing Manager

Norfolk, Va. (February 7, 2006) On March 3, 2006, Bon Secours DePaul Medical Center will commemorate 150 years of service to the city of Norfolk.  The Most Reverend Francis X. DiLorenzo, the Bishop of Richmond, will celebrate this momentous occasion by offering Mass at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Norfolk.

“We are so honored to have been of service to our community for so many years,” states Richard Hanson, CEO Bon Secours Hampton Roads. “Many people don’t know that DePaul was founded in response to the yellow fever epidemic of 1855.”

Despite the dangers during that epidemic, eight sisters of the Daughters of Charity, who had come to Norfolk in 1839, offered to nurse the ill and dying door-to-door and in makeshift hospitals. The Virginia Legislature incorporated the Hospital of St. Vincent DePaul, Norfolk’s first public hospital and the oldest catholic hospital in Virginia, on March 3, 1856. 
“Bon Secours DePaul Medical Center has a rich heritage founded on the mission of the Daughters of Charity,” explains Sister Rita Thomas, Sister President of Bon Secours Hampton Roads and a Sister of Bon Secours. “ Today we are celebrating a continuation of our mission and the services we offer.”

The Hospital of St. Vincent DePaul, then only eight-rooms, served 100 patients in its first year.  Today, DePaul, licensed for 238 beds, continues to serve over 36,000 patients in its Emergency Department and cares for over 9,000 admissions annually. We offer state of the art comprehensive programs in the areas of Oncology, Musculo-skeletal and Cardiovascular services, as well as providing outpatient diagnostic and ambulatory surgical procedures.  
 
Throughout its long history, DePaul Medical Center has and maintains a strong commitment to meeting the needs of patients from throughout the region. 

###

Bon Secours Hampton Roads Health System is a leading health care organization known for providing care for the whole person with grace and clinical distinction. Bon Secours brings together a network of hospitals, primary care practices, ambulatory care sites and continuing care facilities to provide quality health care services to the residents of Hampton Roads. Bon Secours, which employs more than 4,500, includes: Bon Secours DePaul Medical Center, Bon Secours Maryview Medical Center, Mary Immaculate Hospital, Bon Secours Health Center at Harbour View, Bon Secours Maryview Nursing Care Center and St. Francis Nursing Center.