About Penn Highlands Elk

Penn Highlands Elk has a long history of providing quality care to the region. With campuses in St. Marys and Ridgway, and physician offices in several locations throughout the region, it proudly serves the residents of Elk and Cameron counties.

The hospital was created due to the Spanish Influenza epidemic of 1918 that hit St. Marys very hard. The town had no hospital and the care of the desperately sick was often in the hands of untrained volunteers. The three daughters of Andrew Kaul donated $40,000 each to convert the dormant Benedictine monastery into a hospital. Andrew Kaul was a prominent St. Marys native and businessman, and thus the hospital was named Andrew Kaul Memorial Hospital when it opened in April of 1922.

Its success came when it was taken over by the Benedictine Sisters from St. Joseph Convent in 1933. Under their careful management, the 40 bed facility was full on the day of the fire, November 27, 1934, that left nothing but the stone walls. The sisters closed their girls school, St. Benedict's Academy and converted it to a temporary hospital until a new one could be rebuilt. Fundraising was hard during the Depression, and it wasn't until 1941 that the refurbished hospital opened again. The sisters donated half of the money raised.

The sisters owned and operated the hospital until 1978 when it was turned over to a public-not-for -profit corporation owned by the community. In 1994, the name was changed to St. Marys Regional Medical Center. After the merger with the Elk County General Hospital in Ridgway, the name was again changed to Elk Regional Health Center until 2013 when the Penn Highlands Healthcare partnership was formed and now the hospital in St. Marys is called Penn Highlands Elk.

By whichever name, it has been serving the healthcare needs of Elk and Cameron counties for 95 years.