History
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The Sisters of Mercy were founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. Catherine was an heiress who used her fortune to serve the poor, especially women and children.

When Catherine McAuley began her work in 1827, she intended to create a way for the
poor to learn marketable skills that would enable them to secure jobs.

By matching the skills of the newly educated poor with the needs of Dublin's elite, Catherine was able to help both groups. Even though Catherine did not intend to form a religious order, she was compelled by the fact that it would perpetuate service to the poor after her death.

During the mid-19th century, many laborers and their families emigrated to the United States.

Sisters of Mercy followed these emigrants to the U.S. to nurse and teach in the poor communities that sprang up around factories and mines. In twos, threes and fours, they traveled to establish schools, hospitals and programs for the poor. Their numbers grew as new members were attracted to the Order.           
                                                         
The Sisters of Mercy in the United States, Central America, South America, Guam and the Philippines united July 20, 1991, to form the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas. To this day they continue to respond to a call to serve God's people through education, health care and other ministries that further social, political, economic and spiritual well-being.

The Founding of St. John's

As Springfield grew, so did the need for physicians. In 1924, four visionary physicians introduced the innovative concept of group medical practice. General surgeons Wilbur Smith, Wallis Smith, and Robert Glynn along with Guy D. Callaway, an internist, founded the Smith-Glynn-Callaway Clinic.

As better roads and automobiles brought more people to Springfield for medical care, Smith-Glynn-Callaway Clinic developed additional specialties and added more internists.

St. John's also continued to grow and expand. The Sisters of Mercy purchased the current 11-acre site at 1235 E. Cherokee for a new 250-bed facility after World War II. The Sisters opened the new facility in 1952.

Now a regional health center, St. John's Hospital is licensed for 1,016 beds, which includes the Mercy Villa long-term care facility. Numerous physicians and specialists established independent practices in Springfield, many of them locating their offices in medical buildings on and near St. John's campus.

In 1990, St. John's created a network of rural family practice clinics in southwest Missouri and northern Arkansas. Three years later, the rural physicians joined Smith-Glynn-Callaway Clinic and other independent physician offices to form St. John's Health System. Since then, a health plans division, a home care division, five regional hospitals and seven pharmacies have joined St. John's.

St. John's Health System continues a long tradition of health care leadership, bringing integrated services to those in need across the Ozarks.