Ochsner Baptist Medical Center - History

History

Formerly known as Southern Baptist Hospital, it was founded in 1926 by the Southern Baptist Convention. In 1969, the religious organization separated itself from the hospital (and several others) and Southern Baptist Hospital became an independent non-profit entity. In the early 1980s the hospital spent over $100,000,000 (Project 2000) to add to and renovate the original building. In 1990 it merged with Mercy Hospital (now called Lindy Boggs Medical Center, located near the end of Bayou St. John on Jefferson Davis Parkway) and the two hospitals operated as Mercy-Baptist Medical Center, with the old Southern Baptist Hospital called the Uptown Campus and Mercy called the Mid-City campus. The combined hospitals were acquired by Tenet Healthcare, and the old Baptist Hospital was renamed Memorial Medical Center in 1996. (It was known colloquially as "Memorial Baptist.") After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Tenet sold several of its hospitals in New Orleans to Ochsner Health System, and in 2006 the name was changed to Ochsner Baptist Medical Center, bringing a portion of the original name back into use.

The hospital had been the official healthcare provider of the New Orleans Saints football team since 1967, when the Saints made Dr. Ken Saer the team's original orthopedic surgeon.