History

In response to an increasing need for hospital beds in Memphis at the turn of the century, a group of Baptist visionaries set out to open a hospital to meet the new challenges of the growing city. On July 20, 1912, the vision became reality when the 150-bed Baptist Memorial Hospital opened in downtown Memphis. With a mission of preaching, teaching and healing, the downtown facility was the first step on the road to what has become one of the largest not-for-profit health care systems in the nation.