Our History

In 1922, local banker and businessman Thomas M. Fitzgerald willed his property and funds to establish a hospital on Lansdowne Avenue in Darby, Pa. Seven years later, May Fitzgerald used $1.25 million from her late husband’s trust and worked with the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to plan Delaware County’s first Catholic hospital. Ground broke in 1932 and a year later, 30,000 people witnessed the dedication of the hospital, known at that time as Fitzgerald Mercy Hospital.

To manage hospital operations, the Archdiocese drew upon the vast health care experience of the Sisters of Mercy—who had already experienced great success with Misericordia (now Mercy Philadelphia) that was established 15 years earlier in West Philadelphia. The Sisters agreed to rent Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital from the Archdiocese for $1 a year.

By the end of its first year in operation, the hospital had provided $38,837 in free care, treated 7,354 patients and had 352 births.

In July 1936, the first group of medical and surgical interns arrived, marking the start of a rich tradition of Graduate Medical Education at the hospital. A nursing school opened in 1942, providing many locals with quality nurse training and education until it was phased out in the 1970s.

In 1950, the Archdiocese transferred ownership of the hospital to the Sisters of Mercy.