Mercy for All
James Deering, an agricultural industrialist, built an estate on Biscayne Bay in 1916 which he named “Villa Vizcaya.” The 180 acre estate included a main house, formal gardens, a native forest and a historic village. On June 2, 1945, Most Reverend Joseph P. Hurley, Bishop of St. Augustine, announced that part of the land would be purchased to build a hospital to be sponsored by Women Religious. The greater Miami population participated in a fundraising drive to build a modern hospital to serve the needs of the growing community.
While sponsored as a Catholic ministry, the idea was to build a hospital to serve the entire community. The local public, with the Florida Sisters of St. Joseph, started to clear the land to build the hospital. By early 1946, 25% of the initial capital was raised by the community. The hospital’s facility, “called Greater Miami’s greatest need,” was meant to provide “Mercy For All.”
The rising steel served as a reminder of the modernization of the expanding Miami metropolitan area, and the community and Mercy Hospital were forever linked. By the first anniversary, the hospital was recognized as “Florida’s Newest and Most Modern Hospital.
Since the hospital’s doors opened on December 18, 1950, Mercy Hospital has continued to serve the needs of the Miami community built on the shores of Biscayne Bay. Today, the hospital is recognized for its many centers of excellence, is accredited by The Joint Commission, and continues to provide “Mercy For All.”
For more information, please visit the Mercy Hospital website.