Since its founding as a small community hospital to its standing today as the largest comprehensive medical center in the region, Providence Queen of the Valley Medical Center has remained dedicated to improving the health and quality of life of the communities it serves. This commitment is especially poignant this month as the Queen prepares to celebrate its 65th anniversary on March 3.
“As we honor this major milestone at Providence Queen of the Valley Medical Center, our hearts are filled with gratitude when we reflect on the lifesaving care, medical advancements and lasting community impact our medical center has made in the Napa Valley,” said Terry Wooten, chief executive. “We are humbled to serve others in this way, and are grateful for the thousands of employees, physicians, volunteers, donors, board members and community collaborators whose compassion, talents and efforts nurtured this healing work for the past six-and-a-half decades.”
The Queen opened its doors on March 3, 1958, following a community fundraising campaign and support from the hospital’s foundresses, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange. Once opened, the hospital provided a larger, more comprehensive facility to meet the growing health care needs of the bustling community and offered a place for the Sisters to continue their Mission to serve all, especially the poor and vulnerable, in Napa.
Today – under the sponsorship of the Sisters of Providence and St. Joseph of Orange – Providence Queen of the Valley Medical Center anchors regional services to the people of Napa County, representing a hub of critical, complex care for more than 140,000 residents and countless visitors. It remains Napa County’s largest hospital, having evolved into a 198-bed, Trauma Center certified by the American College of Surgeons.
Since the hospital’s founding, the medical center’s teams have remained dedicated to providing state-of-the-art specialty, emergency and preventive care to all who walk through its doors. In 2022 alone, the Queen admitted more than 6,400 patients, delivered nearly 700 babies, treated more than 25,700 cases in its Emergency Department and performed over 7,800 inpatient and outpatient surgeries. And the Queen continues to earn a reputation for excellence on par with well-known university hospitals, earning Healthgrades’ 100 Best Hospitals for Critical Care award four years in a row and ranking in the top 5% in the nation for patient safety.
“Since our founding, Providence Queen of the Valley Medical Center has revolutionized care for not only our patients locally, but also for the medical community at large,” said Andrew Fenton, M.D., chief of staff for Providence Queen of the Valley’s Medical Staff. “We are humbled to welcome world-class physicians to our team and provide state-of-the-art, comprehensive care to the Napa Valley.”
Although much has changed over the last six-plus decades, the Queen continues to honor the Mission-driven work of its foundresses and remains steadfast to serving its community. From providing no-cost medical services to those in need to offering grants to local organizations that deliver vital services to residents, the medical center works to address unmet needs in the county such as housing insecurity, mental health services and health equity.
“Mission and service is at the heart of the healing work at the Queen, as we ensure the legacy of the Queen’s foundresses lives on by partnering with like-minded organizations, investing in community benefit programs and providing compassionate care to our neighbors,” said Geni Bennetts, M.D., chair of Providence Queen of the Valley Medical Center’s Community Board. “The caregivers, physicians and medical staff at the Queen look forward to continuing their tradition of service for many years to come.”
