This article is the fourth in our series discussing the Sisters of the Holy Cross and their 146-year legacy of serving Utah and Park City.  Medical secretary Carol Santy, left, and physician assistant Mike Anderson welcome Parkites to the new Family Health Center on July 11, 1977. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Park City Historical Society Museum, Park Record Collection In our previous articles, we discussed the Salt Lake City arrival of the Sisters of the Holy Cross in June 1875 and their fundraising prowess. Healthcare and a quality education for Catholic Utahns required hospitals and schools. Building and operating them required money. Their first medical facility, Holy Cross Hospital, opened in October 1875. After multiple expansions and ownership changes, it remains one of Utah’s premier medical institutions.  Park City finally welcomed the Sisterhood in 1880. In 1881, they opened the first “iteration” of Saint Mary’s Church. It was essentially two structures: a church and school. Constructed of wood, it was consumed by fire four years later. The lesson learned: locally quarried stone was selected for its rebuild. A fortuitous decision, as the compound survived the Great Fire of June 1898 — an event which incinerated 75% of town.  Intending to expand their community health care offerings, in the early 1920s the Sisters attempted to purchase Miners’ Hospital, but they were outbid. Fifty-eight years later, they would try again to open a hospital in Park City.  December 1963 witnessed the opening of Park City’s “first” major ski resort: Treasure Mountains. The project was a public-private partnership between the Federal Government and United Park City Mines, or UPCM. Each entity invested $1.2 million ($13 million today). Their goal was to diversify and rejuvenate the town’s moribund economy. By 1978, the town was 15 years into a gear-grinding transition to a resort-based economy. Unbeknownst to Parkites at the time, the unthinkable would occur in April 198; After 112 years of mineral extraction, the Fat Lady belted out her swan song. While it seems inconceivable today, in 1978 there were no healthcare clinics in Park City. The once vaunted Miners’ Hospital was derelict. If you needed medical attention, your only option was a trip to the “valley.” Additionally, the Park City ambulance needed replacing, and there was no money to do so. With their community in need, the Sisters stepped into the void. For Park City, they envisioned a three-phase strategy: open a clinic, operate the ambulance corps and build a hospital.  In 1977, Holy Cross Hospital opened the “Family Health Center and Emergency Clinic” first in a trailer next to the Skaggs Alpha Beta Market in the Holiday Village Mall, later moving inside the market. Company executives, always mindful of the communities they served, charged $1.00 per year for the space. Holy Cross Hospital hired physician assistant Mike Anderson and medical secretary Carol Santy to operate the clinic. Family doctor Dr. Thomas Schwenk arrived a year later. Their respective medical careers would prove brilliant.  Next, Holy Cross Hospital submitted a proposal to fund and operate the Park City Ambulance Corps. They were awarded the contract in 1980. HCH invested $30,000 ($120,000 net present value) to purchase a new ambulance. They also hired two full-time EMTs. Two goals down, one to go.  That same year, Holy Cross Hospital announced its intention to build a hospital in Park City. They committed $5 million toward doing so. A Kimball Junction landowner donated eight acres for the hospital. The Sisters were committed: “We can do this.”   Our fifth and final article in this series discusses the Sisters’ two-front campaign to build their Park City hospital while simultaneously battling a lethal pandemic.  Acknowledgements: Andy Cier (Holy Cross Ministries), Steve Leatham, Dr. Thomas L. Schwenk, MD, Cheryl Soshnik (BS Nursing, Level 3 EMT, Trauma System Specialist), and Stuart Stanek. The post Way We Were: Building basic healthcare for Park City appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less