For more than a century, Norton Healthcare’s faith heritage has guided its mission of serving adult and pediatric patients throughout Greater Louisville, Southern Indiana, the commonwealth of Kentucky and beyond. Hospitals that are now part of Norton Healthcare were established by local members of the Episcopal Church, the United Methodist Church, the United Church of Christ and the Roman Catholic Church. Volunteers from Presbyterian churches, as well as a number of community-minded physicians and citizens, were instrumental in establishing Norton Children’s Hospital and Norton King’s Daughters’ Health.
After the Civil War, a small group of women called the Home Mission Society of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church began raising money to build a hospital in Louisville. In 1881, Mary Louise Sutton Norton gave her elaborate home to the hospital project organizers. They sold the home and used the money to create a hospital that was named in her husband’s memory. The John N. Norton Memorial Infirmary opened in 1886. The Rev. John N. Norton was associate rector of Christ Church Cathedral and a man of faith driven by a call to serve God, church and community. Norton Hospital, originally located at Third and Oak streets, now stands at 200 E. Chestnut St. It continues to provide health care in the same caring spirit of its namesake.
Leaders from the United Methodist Church and the Evangelical Church (now the United Church of Christ) joined together their health care missions by opening Methodist Evangelical Hospital in 1960. The hospital was well known for its excellent nursing practices and faithful family of volunteers. More than 1,200 volunteers from local churches supported and cared for patients and families. These values and commitment to excellence continue today in the facility that is now Norton Healthcare Pavilion.
In 1926, members of a Louisville Catholic community opened St. Joseph Infirmary, the largest private hospital in Kentucky at that time. In 1970, a for-profit company purchased the hospital and 10 years later built a new facility, Audubon Hospital. It became part of the Norton Healthcare family in 1998 with the organization’s purchase of the hospital now named Norton Audubon Hospital.
Children’s Free Hospital opened in 1892 when civic activist Mary Lafon and two physicians were determined to create a hospital devoted to children with any illness or injury. A small group of women from Warren Memorial Presbyterian Church, where Lafon was a member, also was instrumental in establishing and running the hospital with a 99% volunteer workforce. More than a century later, Norton Children’s Hospital provides care that’s “Just for Kids” as Kentucky and Southern Indiana’s only full-service, free-standing pediatric hospital.
The caring tradition of Norton King’s Daughters’ Health in Madison, Indiana, began in the late 19th century as well, when a small sewing circle of women from Presbyterian churches was inspired to help a boy with an illness. Called the Bethany Circle of King’s Daughters and Sons, their dream of establishing a hospital where the boy and others could receive care gained momentum when Drusilla Cravens donated a large home in memory of her husband, judge John R. Cravens.
With support from other charities, private citizens and the city of Madison, the home was transformed into a hospital in 1899, and the boy was one of the first patients. Throughout the next century, with steady ownership by the all-female Bethany Circle, King’s Daughters’ Hospital grew into a regional health care facility. It became part of the Norton Healthcare system in 2022, and the culture of compassion continues to grow at Norton King’s Daughters’ Health.
Although our organization’s founders represented different faiths, these health care pioneers were guided by their desire to do God’s work of loving and caring for their neighbors. This is the foundation on which Norton Healthcare has based its values. It is that same desire that guides how we work today.