Our History

The Borgess Foundation

The generosity of people and organizations has played a key role in every major development, every large building project, and every new era of health care at Borgess.

Since 1972, the Borgess Foundation has helped to continue the rich tradition of philanthropy in support of health care and related services at Borgess.

The support provided by Bishop Borgess, the Sisters of St. Joseph – and people just like you – has fueled our growth from a tiny 20-bed hospital to a sophisticated health network serving an 11-county area with more than 130 sites of care and almost 70 satellite clinics. Today, Borgess remains a vital, state-of-the-art health care resource, and your help will play an essential role in our future.

Our legacy of healing has grown from a 20-bed hospital in 1889 to the comprehensive Borgess Health network which now extends across southwest and south central Michigan. Though the years, we have remained devoted to continuing the healing mission of the Congregation of St. Joseph and responding to the health needs of those we serve.

A Legacy of Healing:

On Christmas Day of 1888, Father Francis O’Brien received a special note from Bishop Caspar Borgess. Through the generosity of Bishop Borgess, who provided a gift of five-thousand dollars from his mother’s estate, and the dedication of Father O’Brien, Kalamazoo’s first hospital opened on December 8, 1889.

At O’Brien’s request, 11 sisters from Watertown, New York traveled to Kalamazoo, where they staffed the hospital and founded the Sisters of St. Joseph of Nazareth. The first Borgess Medical Center was located at Portage and Lovell Streets, and had only 20 beds. The much-needed facility quickly grew to more than 100 beds, and in 1917, a second hospital was built on Gull Road.

The “New Borgess” also grew with the addition of a second wing in 1927 to become the familiar site that is now recognized by area residents as the front of Borgess Medical Center. The two five-story hospital wings are designed to represent helping, healing hands that reach out to all those who enter.

Today, more than 2,600 employees work at Borgess Medical Center. Our comprehensive network of healing extends across southwest Michigan. Borgess Health employs over 4,300 professionals and includes:

In 1999, the Sisters of St. Joseph Health System and the Daughters of Charity joined to create the largest nonprofit health care system in the United States. So now Borgess is one of the Ascension Health facilities located in 20 states and the District of Columbia.

Through these transitions and during all the years of our expansion, Borgess has remained devoted to our core values, continuing the healing mission of the Sisters of St. Joseph and responding to the health needs of those we serve. Our commitment respects the dignity of human life and actively responds to the needs of the poor.

Restoring people to their optimal health—regardless of their ethnicity, background or ability to pay—is our principal goal. Everything our gifted professionals do is designed to deliver innovative medicine and inspired care.