Bethesda Inc. Timeline

1896  Bethesda Inc. traces its roots to 1896, when seven German Methodist deaconesses began to offer home-based care for Cincinnati's sick and poor.

1905The deaconesses open their first maternity building adjacent to the hospital.

1915  The name Bethesda is first used to reflect the growing awareness of the hospital's importance in serving the many different people who came there to heal and be healed. Bethesda's nursing school also is accredited.

1916  Scarlet Oaks opens - first as a hospital and retirement community and later focused exclusively on serving the community's elderly.

1920  Bethesda opens the Strecker Hospital for Children with a 30-bed capacity devoted exclusively to pediatric care.

1926  Bethesda opens a new medical and surgical hospital on Oak Street with 159 beds. Motivated by function and economy, the Strecker Hospital for Children is consolidated to the fifth floor of the hospital.

1970Bethesda North Hospital opens as the first community satellite hospital in Greater Cincinnati. Today, it is among the largest acute and tertiary care hospitals in the Cincinnati region. It offers a comprehensive range of services from award-winning heart care to maternity services and a 24-hour emergency room to residents of northern Cincinnati and Warren, Butler and Clermont counties.

1974The Bethesda Foundation is formed to ensure that Bethesda's hospital operations and related entities have the resources needed to meet the health care challenges facing the large, growing Greater Cincinnati population.

1976Bethesda opens Greater Cincinnati's first freestanding outpatient surgery center.

1977Hospice of Cincinnati is founded by Bethesda as Southwest Ohio's largest, oldest and only non-for-profit hospice, focused on fulfilling the growing and evolving end-of-life needs of the community. Its affiliate program, Fernside, was established in 1986 as one of the nation's first children's grief centers. Today, it remains a national leader in providing grief support services and outreach and education to the community.

1980  The Bethesda Warren County Emergency Center opens a freestanding 24-hour emergency treatment center near Lebanon. It is believed to be the first such freestanding facility opened by a Cincinnati-based hospital. 

1983  The Bethesda Hospital and Deaconess Association adopt a new name: Bethesda Inc.

1984  Bethesda acquires what would become Consolidated Health Services Inc. (CHS), which grew to 30 locations in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. CHS includes American Nursing Care, which provides home health services; Patient Transport Services, offering non-emergency patient transportation; AmeriMed, offering home infusion therapy; and Cornerstone Medical, a joint venture which sells durable medical equipment.

1987The Bethesda Fertility Center was founded as Cincinnati's first fertility center and continues to lead the TriState in new technologies and IVF success rates that consistently surpass national averages. Board certified physicians and a sophisticated Reproductive Studies Lab combine to offer the region's most recognized team of compassionate, infertility experts.

1995  Bethesda Inc. becomes one of two joint sponsors of TriHealth, the other being Catholic Health Initiatives, based in Denver. TriHealth's more than 12,000 employees meet the health needs of Greater Cincinnatians through an integrated network that includes Bethesda North and Good Samaritan hospitals, physician groups, ambulatory facilities, adult care, fitness and wellness offering, hospice care and community outreach.

1996  Bethesda celebrates its 100 year-anniversary.

2010  Bethesda Inc. sells Consolidated Health Services to Catholic Health Initiatives. Bethesda Inc. also announces its new strategic plan and its first major community grants.