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History of SMP Health System
Quality Health Care In
North Dakota and Illinois

The Sisters of Mary of the Presentation arrived in the United States at the turn of the 20th Century as exiles from religious persecution in their native France. At the request of the pastor of the Irish parish in Spring Valley, Illinois in 1903, the Sisters established St. Margaret’s Hospital. Thus modestly began the history of SMP Health System which is now headquartered in Fargo, North Dakota and comprised of the following healthcare ministries in North Dakota and Illinois:

Hospitals:

  1. St. Margaret’s Health, Spring Valley, Illinois 
  2. St. Andrew’s Health Center, Bottineau, North Dakota
  3. St. Aloisius Medical Center, Harvey, North Dakota
  4. Presentation Medical Center, Rolla, North Dakota 

Long Term Care in North Dakota:

  1. Ave Maria Village, Jamestown
  2. Sheyenne Care Center, Valley City 
  3. Maryhill Manor, Enderlin 
  4. Rosewood on Broadway, Fargo
  5. Villa Maria, Fargo 
  6. Prairieland Home Care, Spring Valley, Illinois

Home Care:

  1. Prairieland Home Care

In the early days of the Sisters’ hospitals, the Sisters were responsible for all aspects of their operations, including growing their own food and, in some cases, like St. Margaret’s, raising cows and chickens. The Sisters handled all business matters as well as staffing the operating rooms, lab, X-ray and dietary departments. They were also the head nurses on all floors and night supervisors. There were no boards of directors. In addition to all that, they did it without receiving any salaries for those directly serving in the health care ministries. In time, however, this kind of simplicity became unsustainable. Medical technology, government reimbursement, licensing and regulatory requirements, insurance, urbanization and the corresponding expansion and consolidation of healthcare institutions contributed to the complexity of health care.

The Sisters of Mary of the Presentation were one of the first religious orders to have lay members on the boards of directors for their health care operations. The SMP Central Management Corporation started in 1980 with an administrator and a controller working from offices at Maryvale Convent, the Sisters’ provincial motherhouse in Valley City, North Dakota. In 1982, the corporate office moved to Fargo, North Dakota and in December 2000, the name of the organization changed to Sisters of Mary of the Presentation Health System, more commonly known as SMP Health System.

Our quality care focuses on the needs of the whole person. We believe that through the healing ministry of Jesus, we can make a difference.