| PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center | |
| Org/Group: | PeaceHealth |
| Coordinates: | 48.7734°N -122.4739°W |
| Address: | 2901 Squalicum Parkway |
| Region: | Bellingham, Washington |
| State: | Washington |
| Country: | US |
| Emergency: | II |
| Beds: | 251 |
| Opened: | January 1891 |
| Publictransit: | WTA |
| Former-Names: | St. Joseph Hospital |
PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center (commonly shortened to St. Joe's)[1] is a hospital operated by PeaceHealth in Bellingham, Washington. Its trauma center is the Haggen Family Emergency and Trauma Center, a level II trauma center.[2]
The hospital provides general medical care, as well as specialized treatment for heart and joint conditions and cancer.[3] It is the only hospital in Whatcom County.[4] They have 251 licensed beds.[5]
St. Joseph Hospital was opened in January 1891, established by nuns of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace; it was the first hospital established by what is now PeaceHealth. St. Joseph was originally located in a two-story home in Fairhaven with 30 beds. The hospital moved to their first permanent home—on Forest Street—in 1901. It moved to a suburban campus in 1966 centered around an 81-bed building. St. Joseph acquired the crosstown St. Luke's Hospital in 1989 after the two hospitals agreed to end their long rivalry.[6]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the hospital changed its visitation policies multiple times, but opened patients to one visitor at a time starting in September 2022 and two visitors starting in October of that year.[7] [8]
The hospital's helipad is often used to airlift patients to Harborview Medical Center,[9] the only level I trauma center in the state. Medical airlift services at St. Joseph are operated by AirLift Northwest[10] and Life Flight Network.[11]
The hospital was ranked number 9 in the state of Washington by U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals Rankings.[12]