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About the United Hospital Foundation

Our Mission

The United Hospital Foundation exists to enhance the health of United Hospital patients and the wellness of the community we serve.

The United Hospital Foundation

United Hospital Foundation was created to help United Hospital meet the needs of patients, employees and members of the community. Established in 1984, United Hospital Foundation formalized nearly 150 years of philanthropy. Through annual gifts, endowment assets and funding of major facilities, technologies and programs, United Hospital Foundation and the community members who support it help ensure United Hospital’s continued leadership in health care.

We have identified three specific areas where United Hospital Foundation can best help United Hospital:

• Technology
• Community
• Programs

Each year the Foundation works with donors to raise and invest funds that help United Hospital:

• Maintain health care excellence by bridging the financial gap between the increasing cost of providing services and the shrinking level of reimbursement from insurance;
• Purchase new equipment and make other nonreimbursable capital investments that allow United Hospital to provide patients with the latest and most technologically advanced care;
• Provide access to excellent health care to a culturally and economically diverse community;
• Form partnerships with other organizations to support communitywide health improvement efforts; and
• Engage in valuable, nonreimbursable medical activities, such as medical research, physician training and patient education.

History - A tradition of excellence

It was in community philanthropy that United had its beginnings when in 1853 the parishioners of Christ Church donated approximately $1,000 in cash, pledges and land toward building the first founding hospital of United, Christ Church Orphan's Home and Hospital, which was the third hospital to open in the state of Minnesota. After the hospital was built, donations consisted mainly of such practical items as food, clothing and furniture. The list of donations in St. Luke's annual report of 1881 includes: 1 solitaire board, 20 chickens, 2 calves heads, 5 pairs of socks, 1 package of oatmeal. Present-day donations to the United Hospital Foundation come in the form of cash, checks, credit charges, stocks, endowments, named gifts and real estate.

A century later, Christ Church Orphan's Home and Hospital was renamed St. Luke's Hospital. It was honored as one of 14 hospitals in the country to initiate "progressive patient care."

The other founding member of United Hospital was the Charles T. Miller Hospital, which opened in 1916. This hospital attracted wealthy patients, yet was distinguished by subsidized services for low-income patients. Miller's emphasis on specialized care, along with its strong research and medical education components, complemented St. Luke's long-standing tradition of excellent generalist care. In 1973, the two hospitals consolidated into United Hospital.

In 1976, Riverview Memorial Hospital, located in the West Side community of St. Paul, merged with United Hospital and became a division of United Hospital. Riverview closed its doors for good on Oct. 23, 1980.

Photos courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society Collection.

United Hospital Foundation
333 North Smith Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55102
651-241-8022

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