Sister Catherine (St. Charles CEO from 1969-1989) didn't make a lot of fans when she first started talking about building a new medical center on the east edge of Bend. In June 1969, she returned to St. Charles Memorial Hospital after nearly 20 years working as a nurse for her order in Indiana. The ink on her administrator's credentials had barely dried and already she was pushing for a fundamental change.
"When I even mentioned the idea, they thought I was out of it," Hellmann said. "The Sisters of St. Joseph ... They could no way afford a new hospital. The community didn't think we needed one."
In the next six years, however, the spirited nun would win over the doubters with her vision of a modern medical center in the high desert. Faith and a newly-formed team would help her create an organization that would ensure St. Charles' continued growth in the decades to come.
The St. Charles Memorial Hospital Hellmann left in 1951 was brand-new. A 38-bed wing had been added in 1958. But the community's growth was relentless even then. By 1969, crowding was a problem again. The medical staff and Sister Andrea, acting administrator before Hellmann arrived, had started looking at options. The Sisters of St. Joseph governing board wanted to expand the five-acre Hospital Hill site. Hellmann discerned quickly that would not meet the community's needs, and the board agreed to an independent study. In the meantime, the existing building was remodeled, expanding the hospital to 99 beds in 1971.
Planning for the new hospital began in earnest in 1970. The consultants came back with a proposal for a hospital on the east side of Bend. A facility to serve the 64,000 people living in the area, as well as to accommodate population growth, would cost $12 million. Neither the Mother House of the Sisters of St. Joseph nor the Baker Diocese could afford it. The community was dubious as well, but as in 1948, it rallied behind its hospital.
"They came to me and said, 'Sister, we decided we want our medical center,' but they said 'nowhere on God's earth will we get $12 million,'" Hellmann recalled. "I said last year, 1969, we made the first step on the moon ... are you committed to making the first step ... they couldn't say no to taking the first step."
In 1971, representatives of the community, the medical staff and the Sisters of St. Joseph established St. Charles Memorial Hospital, Inc., later changed to St. Charles Medical Center, Inc., a non-profit corporation. Hellmann became president and chief executive officer. Early in 1972, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Tipton, Indiana, turned over $3 million in assets and buildings it had accrued in its 54-year presence in Bend. That same year, the City of Bend lent its bonding authority to qualify the project for tax-exempt revenue bonds.
In the meantime, Sister Catherine had fallen in love with 68-acres of juniper trees and cow pasture east of Pilot Butte. A few farm houses dotted the area then; town ended on the east side of the butte. That worried some and offended a few.
"There were implications particularly moving out here, that we were leaving town. We were out by Harney County somewhere, because there was nobody out here at that time," recalled Roger Highland, then vice president of fiscal services.
But land was cheap relative to land in the middle of town and the location tugged at Hellmann since the first time she laid eyes on Central Oregon.
"I could just see the patients looking out and seeing those beautiful mountains," she recalled.
On a cold Sunday morning, Sept. 21, 1975, those patients got their first look at Sister Catherine's views and at the newly christened St. Charles Medical Center. It was an all-hands event. Fifty-seven patients were moved one-by-one from St. Charles Memorial Hospital on the hill. A doctor, a nurse, two ambulance crew members and a hospital guild volunteer accompanied each patient. Two-day-old Jason V. of Prineville was the last child born at the old hospital and the first patient moved. That same morning, Calvin M. of Bend became the first child born at the new hospital. By noon, several patients had been treated in the emergency room and two had undergone surgery. The new medical center had 160,000 square feet on four and a half floors. It had 164 patient beds, and the design provided for expansion to 500 beds, according to Hellmann and to a 1972 document.
Though others credit Sister Catherine's vision, she gave much of the credit to the people of Central Oregon.
"I saw much more community involvement at this hospital that at any other hospital I ever worked at," Hellmann said. "The people of that community were so open to new ideas. I was kind of like a bird out of a cage there."
