Mills-Peninsula Medical Center History

The Early Years | 1905–1939

1905: There were no hospitals or emergency facilities of any kind anywhere on the Peninsula between San Francisco and Palo Alto. In the wake of the 1906 earthquake, the need for medical facilities was clear; many people who fled the flames of San Francisco found the countryside of San Mateo County inviting and the population experienced a boom.

Recognizing the need, heiress and philanthropist Elisabeth Mills Reid – with the rector of the Episcopal Church of St. Matthew, Rev. Neptune Blood William Gallwey, and an ambitious young doctor named W.C. Chidester – pledged funds to build and operate on the Church of St. Matthew property an emergency medical facility that would also house a parish nurse.

1907: The planned modest facility quickly expanded to a small hospital, which was dedicated in 1907 by the Rev. William Ford Nichols, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese, to "meet the needs of suffering humanity, irrespective of religious or racial affiliations."

1909: The six-bed facility, which included surgery and maternity rooms, was staffed by three nurses. One nurse served as both head nurse and surgical nurse and the two others rotated 12-hour shifts. Its name was Church of St. Matthew Red Cross Guild—although it had no formal connection with the church or the Red Cross.

By February, the facility had expanded to accommodate 24 patients with 24 nurses. The nurses' combined salaries totaled $5,315.50 for the first year.

The general list of medical conditions included everything from alcoholism to tuberculosis, as well as two typhoid patients, 13 pneumonia cases, one of malaria, one of morphomania, and one poor soul who went down in the permanent hospital record as suffering from "malingering."

In the mid-1910s, the Board of Directors convinced Mrs. Reid that the name of the hospital should be changed to Mills Memorial Hospital, although Mrs. Reid saw to it that Church of St. Matthew preceded the new name.

Through the 1920s, additions such as X-ray machines and expansion and improvement in the emergency room were made, staff added, and private duty nurses were used for at-home care.

1928: The East Wing was built, adding 124 beds and a 28-bed maternity section.

An annual report from the mid-1920s shows hospital receipts of $96,837 and operating expenses of $107,413, while the annual report of 1910 shows $26,514 in operating expenses.

In War and Peace | 1940–1979

In 1947, Robert J. Koshland was appointed a Director of the Peninsula Hospital District, which was given the task of developing and opening a new hospital in San Mateo County. Mr. Koshland was unanimously elected Board President, a position he held for 16 years. He was one of the foremost experts on hospital financing and policy in the nation. Mr. Koshland retired in 1963, leaving Peninsula as the largest hospital in San Mateo County.

1950: Mills Hospital expanded again, this time with the addition of the West Wing, bringing the total number of beds to 151. But for the burgeoning communities of San Mateo County in the post-war boom, one hospital in one city did not meet the demand for quality healthcare.

1954: On March 2, Peninsula Hospital opened in Burlingame. After two and half years of construction, Peninsula opened with 153 beds, 275 employees, 400 Auxilians and 100 physicians and surgeon staff members. Peninsula Hospital was built on the former site of Elisabeth Mills Reid's family home, the Mills Mansion, for which Millbrae was named.

The average cost of stay in a four-bed ward was $17.50 per day, a two-bed room was $18.50 per day, and a private room was $25 a day.

One of the first employees hired by Peninsula Hospital was chief seamstress Evelyn Steele, who sewed 5,000 articles for the hospital use from 2,400 yards of material. She made sheets, patient gowns, Auxiliary uniforms, smocks, drapes, cubical curtains and 390 doubled-stitched surgical leggings.

To be ready for the first patients, the laundry facility – using a washer that could handle up to 350 pounds – washed 710 dozen sheets, pillow slips, towels, wash cloths, bathmats and other items and then rewashed them all five more times to eliminate any lint.

1960: The fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth floors were added, bringing the bed total to 374.

Peninsula Hospital changed its name to Peninsula Hospital and Medical Center.

1978: Peninsula affiliated with the University of California, San Francisco to establish a Cardiovascular Surgery program at the hospital.

1979: Peninsula celebrated its 25th anniversary and signed a joint planning agreement with Mills Memorial Hospital.

The Perfect Union 1980–2011

1985: Mills and Peninsula signed a merger agreement to form Mills-Peninsula Hospitals, and embarked on the planning that would carry their commitment to the best in community healthcare into the 21st century.

1993: Senior Focus Wellness Center opened in downtown San Mateo.

1996: Peninsula campus became Mills-Peninsula Medical Center and inpatient care was consolidated there. The Mills campus became the Mills Health Center, a comprehensive outpatient care center.

The Mack E. Mickelson Arthritis and Rehabilitation Center opened at the health center in San Mateo.

The Family Birth Center opened at the medical center in Burlingame.

Mills-Peninsula joined Sutter Health, a not-for-profit system of 27 hospitals in Northern and Central California.

1997: The expanded Emergency Department at the medical center opened in Burlingame. The Wellness Center moved to the health center campus in San Mateo.

1998: The Primary Care Doctors' Office for Seniors opened in San Carlos.

A newly remodeled Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit opened at the health center in San Mateo.

A new, expanded Outpatient Surgery Center opened at the health center in San Mateo.

2011: The newly built Mills-Peninsula Medical Center opened in Burlingame and the Mills Health Center in San Mateo was refurbished.