All these decades later, St. Tammany Health System hardly resembles the humble one-story country hospital that first opened its doors in December 1954 amid the pines at Tyler Street and 11th Avenue in Covington – at least, not in a physical sense.
Then, it was a 25,000-square-foot, 30-room facility. With the opening of its newest wing, the Covington hospital now encompasses some 715,000 square feet of space and nearly 250 patient beds, to say nothing of the health system’s 20-plus satellite locations.
At its heart, though, it’s still very much the community-based hospital its founders envisioned.
That vision, and that history, is now the focus of a new publication, “A History of Healing: The St. Tammany Health System Story,” which includes interviews, vintage photos and such stories as:
- The story behind the health system’s founding and its 66-year journey since.
- A look at hospital expansions through the years.
- How St. Tammany Hospital Foundation was born.
- The history of the St. Tammany Hospital Guild.
- The story behind St. Tammany Health System’s “Five Old Men.”
You can find a digital version here, in our online archive of St. Tammany Health System publications.
If you’d rather your own deluxe printed copy, you can purchase one at the St. Tammany Health System gift shop, located in our hospital lobby. As a bonus, all proceeds from sales of "A History of Healing" will go to St. Tammany Hospital Foundation, to continue its support of the healing work done at the health system.
Consider it our way of preserving this part of St. Tammany Parish history – and of saying thank you for recognizing us as such a key part of the Northshore community for so long.