Celebrating Care, Compassion & Community
Blessing Hospital traces its roots to 1873 and a group called “The Charitable Aid and Hospital Association.”
Members of the association felt there was no place to go in the city of Quincy for the sick poor or sick travelers. The City Poor House was not equipped for a hospital and the Catholic hospital, St. Mary, founded in 1866, was frequently full. The association adopted as its mission, “…relief and support of sick, destitute and dependent persons and the establishment and maintenance of an Infirmary and Hospital in said City of Quincy.”
After two years of fund raising, the 19-bed Blessing Hospital opened on May 10, 1875, on land donated by Sarah and Methias Denman.
In 1993, Blessing Hospital purchased the assets of Quincy’s St. Mary Hospital, ending decades of service duplication and the associated duplicated costs, becoming a recognized “Sole Community Provider.”
Today, Blessing Hospital offers the region 348 beds, 244 of those are acute beds. It draws patients from across western Illinois, northeast Missouri and southeast Iowa, an area with a population of some 300,000 people.
Blessing provides advanced services, many not available within 100 miles or more, including:
| Open heart surgery | Nationally accredited cardiac electrophysiology to treat those with abnormal heart rhythms |
| Comprehensive cancer care featuring medical oncology and nationally accredited radiation therapy treatment | A Level II Trauma Center |
| Inpatient behavioral medicine | Inpatient physical rehabilitation |
| State-of-the art imaging including 3T MRI | Wound healing featuring hyperbaric care |
| Clinical and molecular lab services | Retail and specialty pharmacies |
| Hospice and palliative care | Home care |
| A Hospital from Home program | Clinical medical trials to offer eligible residents access to the latest treatments. |
This year, Blessing Hospital celebrates 150 years of service to the residents of western Illinois, northeast Missouri and southeast Iowa. As it began all those years ago so it remains today, Blessing is a not-for-profit community hospital, providing care to all in need regardless of their ability to pay and investing funds remaining at years end into the people, facilities and technologies needed by the residents of the communities it serves.
As you would imagine, exceptional accomplishments fill the past 150 years of Blessing Hospital history, advancing the quality of care available to the Tri-State region and residents’ access to it.
150 Years - How This Daughter Brings Her Mother To Tears
Blessing Hospital celebrates its 150th anniversary during 2025. This is the first in a series of stories celebrating the anniversary and generations of care, compassion and community through the stories of family members who work for Blessing.
learn more