SELECT A COLLECTION BELOW TO VIEW ITEMS

 

 

 

BMI Hospital was the first hospital in Henderson, Nevada. It was built in 1942 to serve the employees at Basic Magnesium, Inc. (BMI). The BMI plant shut down its operations in 1944, and the hospital was put up for sale.

Father Peter Moran, pastor of St. Peter's Church in Henderson, wrote a letter to Mother Mary Gerald Barry of the Adrian Dominican Sisters of Michigan in 1946 suggesting that the Sisters purchase the hospital. The Adrian Dominican Sisters proceeded with the purchase, and the hospital was renamed Rose de Lima and turned over to the Sisters in 1947.

Seven Adrian Dominican Sisters arrived in Henderson in 1947 to assume responsibility for the hospital. These Sisters, along with countless other women in the Henderson community, worked hard during many lean years to ensure that the hospital could continue to provide high quality care to Henderson's residents.

Most of the documents and photographs in this collection reveal many of the daily and annual activities undertaken by the Adrian Dominican Sisters and by the women of the hospital's auxiliary, who have been essential to the hospital's growth. Narratives by and interviews with former Sisters and staff members recount much of the history of the hospital.

Over the years the hospital has undergone several changes. Building additions have been made, two campus locations have been added (Siena and St. Martin), and the name of the hospital has changed. In 1973 the name of the hospital was changed from Rose de Lima to St. Rose de Lima, and in 1989 it was changed to St. Rose Dominican Hospital.