SSM Health

SSM Health is a Catholic, not-for-profit United States health care system. More than 1,300 physicians and 29,500 others employees in four states are employed by SSM. SSM is one of the largest employers in the cities it serves. States that SSM services include Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Illinois and Missouri.

SSM adopted the electronic health record fairly early, and provides care in a range settings, including hospitals, pediatric medical centers, outpatient centers, clinics, surgery centers, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, physician offices, emergency centers, rehabilitation facilities, home care, and hospice.

Based in St. Louis, Mo., SSM Health owns 18 hospitals, and has affiliations with more than 40 rural hospitals. SSM also owns two nursing homes, and has a variety of partnerships with physicians.

In September 2013, Dean Health System, a large multi-specialty physician group and health plan, finalized a deal to merge Dean and its subsidiaries, including Dean Health Plan, into SSM Health. The merger became effective on September 1 after all necessary regulatory approvals were received.

SSM is sponsored by the Franciscan Sisters of Mary and based in St. Louis, Missouri. It is one of the largest Catholic hospital systems in the United States.

SSM Health traces its roots to 1872, when Mother Mary Odilia Berger and four other sisters came to St. Louis from Germany, after caring for sick and wounded soldiers during the Franco-Prussian War. Facing religious persecution in Germany, they came to the United States. When they arrived in St. Louis they began providing nursing care to people in their own homes. That winter, when a smallpox epidemic hit St. Louis, the sisters cared for the sick and dying. For a short time, people referred to them as the Smallpox Sisters. In 1874, the congregation received its formal name: the Sisters of St. Mary (SSM) from the parish where their convent was located, St. Mary of Victories near the riverfront in St. Louis.

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