Construction of the St. Cloud Hospital began in July 1926. The Sisters had chosen a beautiful location on the banks of the Mississippi River and built the St. Cloud Hospital as close to its shores as feasible.
The main entrance to the St. Cloud Hospital was flanked with two open-court patios, each with a water fountain set into a foundation shaped as a Benedictine cross. The patio to the west of the entrance shown here was used as the public entrance to the pharmacy.
The patients' rooms at the St. Cloud Hospital were private. The linen sheets, pillowcases, dresser scarves and small table clothes were matched sets, hand-embroidered by the Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict.
Sister Ethelbert Krenik (1st row, 3rd from the left), second administrator (1929-1938) of the St. Cloud Hospital, attended the Northwest Hospitals Convention at Eli Lilly & Company.
Early medical staff of St. Cloud Hospital included (back row, left to right) Drs. J. McDowell, Clark, C. Goehrs, Bendix, Veranth, Evans, Schatz, Beuning, (Seated) Donaldson, Wenner, Baumgartner, J. Gaida, Halenbeck, B. Richards.
Frank Karn transferred from employment from Saint Benedict's Convent to St. Cloud Hospital when it opened in 1928 and stayed on for 45 years. He was a registered engineer.
Because Sister Borgia was willing to take on any task asked of her, she responded to Dr. Page E. Stangl's (pathologist) request to help him set up a laboratory of animals for research. She called herself the zoo-keeper and worked with this project in her quiet, unassuming way for 39 years--first in crowded conditions among the offices on 6th floor of the hospital and then in the seclusion of the sub-basement.