This file portion of www.watertownhistory.org website

   File on St. Mary’s Hospital

St. Mary’s Hospital - Addendum

Founded and Opened in 1906

 

Missionary Sisters, Servants of the Holy Ghost

 

Watertown Memorial Hospital

 

Watertown Regional Medical Center

 

 

1987      Rural Designation

A “rural” designation cost Watertown Memorial Hospital $877,000 in 1986, a loss the facility cannot continue to suffer if it wants to keep its doors open, administrators say. Officials have launched an extensive campaign to have the hospital’s designation changed from rural to urban. The urban designation would bring in higher Medicare payments, an increase Watertown says it deserves and needs to retain a qualified staff and keep non-Medicare fees in line. “The law just is not reasonable. It does not take into account the rural hospital that’s just bordering an urban county and therefore has urban county costs,” said Leo Bargielski, president of Watertown Memorial Hospital.   WDT