St. Joseph's German Hospital

The hospital, now called University of Maryland St. Joseph’s Medical Center, located in Towson on Osler Drive, is a 238 acute care hospital. It was acquired by University of Maryland in 2012.

It was first opened in 1864 as St. Joseph’s German Catholic Hospital in three row homes on East Caroline Street (between Hoffman and Oliver Sts.), which had been donated by a German woman by the name of Catherine Eberhard. It was opened by three Franciscan nuns. It was opened to serve German immigrants in the area. In 1871 the hospital became incorporated and in October of that year the cornerstone was laid. The hospital was modernized mainly by the generosity of the German community. The hospital was dedicated after the modernization on May 5, 1873. Many of the German Catholic congregations attended the larger than life celebration.

Another new wing, the last, was added to the Caroline Street location and was dedicated on December 16, 1897. It was dedicated by Cardinal Gibbons. It was in this wing, actually the basement, where St. Joe’s established one of the first free dispensary for the medical and surgical treatment of the poor.

A nurses facility was added in 1924, able to house up to 100 nurses. At that time the nurses were living in the hospital. The cost of the new building at Oliver and Eden was built at the cost of $200.000.

This building was demolished in 1966.

The groundbreaking for the new hospital was on March 17, 1963. The cost of the new proposed structure was $11,000,000. It covered 37 acres and was being built to include 322 beds. The new hospital was finally completed in 1965. From 1901 until 1988, a nursing program at the school graduated 2100 nurses. It was the first hospital in Baltimore County.