St. John's Hospital

The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet officially opened St. John's Hospital on April 17, 1900. The site of the hospital was the former residence of Bishop John Shanley. The sisters, pictured above right in 1913, were from Minneapolis, the home of Bishop Shanley, who invited the sisters to Fargo. The hospital had a capacity of 25 and were cared for by six sisters and local doctors (the hospital did not originally have a permanent staff of doctors).

In November, 1904, a new 87-bed hospital (pictured above left in 1909) was built in Island Park. A training school for nurses was established and a nurses' residence was built across the street from St. John's in 1906.

Dakota Heartland Hospital has a hundred-year presence in Fargo-Moorhead. In 1900, St. John’s Hospital opened in Fargo. In1907, St. Ansgar Hospital opened in Moorhead. The two facilities merged in 1986, becoming Heartland Medical Center

In November 1994, Dakota Hospital merged with Heartland Medical Center to become Dakota Heartland Hospital. DHHS began operating in January 1995 as a 50/50 partnership between Champion Healthcare Corporation, now called Paracelsus, and Dakota Medical Foundation. Paracelsus Healthcare Corporation is a publicly-traded company which owns and manages hospitals, nursing homes and other healthcare services in ten states. On July 1, 1998 Paracelsus purchased the remaining 50 percent interest in DHHS from Dakota Medical Foundation, creating the largest public foundation in North Dakota.

In November of 1994, the Dakota Heartland Health System partnership was announced, reuniting St. John's Hospital (renamed Heartland Medical Center in 1992) with Dakota Hospital.