The St. Luke's Legacy
Set on the mountainside in Polk County, NC, St. Luke's Hospital has been a fixture in healthcare services for nearly a century. Since admitting our first patient in 1929, healthcare delivery has had monumental changes. Beginning with two doctors, four nurses, a housekeeper, a cook, a maid, and a houseman, we've grown to a team of nearly 300 healthcare professionals and have experienced tremendous advances in technology and resources.
The St. Luke's legacy began when Dr. Allen J. Jervey and Dr. Marion C. Palmer moved to Tryon, where the pure air and pristine views would aid patients' recovery. From Godshaw Hill, the Tryon Infirmary relocated to a new building on Trade Street. While the clinic provided a valuable service, it needed improvements to meet the community's needs. Miss Lucy Embury, a patient of Dr. Allen Jervey, left the property in trust to the two doctors to construct a hospital she asked to be named St. Luke's, after Luke, the great physician and the New Testament author of the Books of Luke and Acts.
For several reasons, the property donated by Miss Embury was unsuitable for hospital use and sold for $10,000. Dr. Jervey then donated the property on Carolina Drive. With the $10,000 from the sale of Lucy Embury's gifted property, a $43,000 donation from the Duke Foundation, and contributions from citizens of Tryon, St. Luke's Hospital was constructed for $100,000 and opened on November 8, 1929.
By 1933, the large charity load of patients placed St. Luke's under severe financial burden. Facing closure, substantial contributions by a few individuals spared the hospital. In early 1935, the community leaders formed the St. Luke's Hospital Association, and through a community-wide fundraising campaign, philanthropists raised a considerable sum of money to maintain daily operations.
When that building was no longer viable for expansion, the community rallied again for their hospital in the early 1970s to fund and build a brand-new state-of-the-art facility.
In 2004, the Board of Trustees applied for Critical Access designation. This financial strategy included a more stable Medicare reimbursement. Another critical decision was to partner with an extensive hospital system for management expertise, experience in developing community-based clinical services, and participation in volume-based purchasing.
In 2008, the Board entered into a management agreement with Atrium Health to assist St. Luke's leadership with developing a strategic plan for growth and sustainability. The partnership focused on improving staff morale, managing productivity and expenses, delivering excellent patient service, and rebuilding relationships with the medical community. As a result, St. Luke's Hospital experienced a renewed ability to meet our community's healthcare needs.
In 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recognized St. Luke's as a 5-star hospital for patient experience. In addition, in 2021, Healthgrades.com ranked the hospital 16% higher than the national average, and we're now #1 in the greater Western Carolinas for "outstanding patient experience."
As a non-profit, community-owned hospital, St. Luke's relies on the generous support of our community. The Foundation for St. Luke's Hospital, the Duke Endowment, the Polk County Community Foundation, Polk County Economic Development, and many others have played a crucial role in our operations. Their support has enabled us to upgrade our medical equipment, expand our services, and attract top healthcare professionals, all of which have contributed to our recognition as a 5-star hospital for patient experience. We are deeply grateful for their contributions, which have helped keep medical care local and convenient.
Today, nearly a century after its founding, St. Luke's community legacy continues to grow. We are one of the top-rated critical access hospitals within a 200-mile radius, rapidly becoming a healthcare center of excellence in Western Carolinas. We are well on our way to becoming the model for "critical access" hospitals in the southeast. To that end, and through much hard work, St. Luke's is bringing world-class to rural Polk County, NC.
