I'm working on a paper and am trying to find some religious communities that were originally[u] founded with a primary apostolate of healthcare, particularly running hospitals...so I thought I'd pick y'all's brains! It's ok, for my purposes, if they are no longer in that apostolate, nor am I particularly interested in their current "orthodoxy." Thanks!

I do not know if they were founded for hospitals, per se, but the Hawthorne Dominicans were founded to work with cancer patients and to be nurses. Here is a link about them.

http://www.hawthorne-dominicans.org/

-------------------------
Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God

St. John of God, the founder of this religious institution, was born 8 March, 1495, at Montemor Novo, in Portugal. In his fortieth year he was drawn strongly to God's service and began a wonderful life of prayer, penance, and charity towards his neighbour. Pressed by the love of God, and of Christ's suffering members, he founded his first hospital at Granada in Spain, where he tenderly served the sick and afflicted. It is related in his life that one day the Lord appeared to him and told him that He was much pleased with his work, and for that reason He wished him to be called John of God. After ten years spent in the exercise of heroic charity, he died 8 March, 1550. He was canonized by Pope Alexander VIII in 1690; and was declared heavenly patron of the dying and of all the hospitals by Pope Leo XIII, in 1898.

The charity of St. John of God was destined to be perpetuated among his brethren, whom he had formed by his lessons and example. His first companion Antoni Martin was chosen to succeed him as superior of the order. Thanks to the generosity of King Philip II, a hospital was founded at Madrid, another at Cordova, and several others in various Spanish towns. St. Pius V approved the Order of the Brothers Hospitallers in 1572 ...
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02802b.htm
-------------
The Order of Sisters of Charity of the Hôpital Général of Montreal, commonly called Grey Nuns of Montreal, is an order of Roman Catholic nuns. The order was founded in 1738 by Saint Marie-Marguerite Dufrost de Lajemmerais (Madame d'Youville) and the Rev. Louis M. Normand du Faradon, at that time superior of the Seminary of St. Sulpice of Ville Marie (now Montreal).

Madame d'Youville's first associates were Mlle. Louise-Thaumur Lassource, Mlle. Demers, and Mlle. Cusson. The four ladies rented a small house, and began by receiving four or five poor people, which number shortly rose to ten. This beginning was made 30 October 1738. On 3 June 1753, the little association of ladies received the royal sanction which transferred to them, under the title of "Soeurs de la Charité de l'Hôpital Général de Montréal", the rights and privileges which had been granted by letters patent to the "Frères Hospitaliers" in 1694. The peculiar dress of the sisterhood was adopted by mutual consent and worn for the first time on 25 August 1755. The rule which had been given Madame d'Youville and her companions by Father Normant in 1745 received episcopal sanction in 1754, when Mgr. de Pontbriant formed the little society into a religious community. This rule forms the basis of the present constitutions, which were approved by Pope Leo XIII, 30 July 1880. Besides the three vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, the Sisters pledge themselves to devote their lives to the service of suffering humanity.
------------------------------
Hôtel-Dieu is the name given to HOSPITALS established by nursing orders of nuns. The first in NEW FRANCE(Quebec) and one of the first hospitals in America was the Hôtel-Dieu de Québec, funded by the duchesse d'Aiguillon, who in 1637 obtained a site for the hospital at Québec . Construction began in 1638 but was not completed by August 1639, when the first 3 Augustines de la Miséricorde de Jésus (Augustinians of the Mercy of Jesus)and a servant (all from Dieppe, France) arrived in Québec to take up their work. They established a hospital at the nearby reserve at SILLERY to treat Indians with smallpox, though the building there was still under construction when they moved into it in 1640. Harried increasingly by Iroquois raids (see IROQUOIS WARS), in 1644 they moved to the Hôtel-Dieu's present site on Québec's rue du Palais. The foundation of this building still exists; the oldest section of the present building dates from 1696.
--
http://www.patrimoine-religieux.qc.ca/comm...tm#soeursgrises
--
and this History gives a nice general vision of the birth of Hospital through pagan to early Christians, St Basils Community for example, to hospice> hospital in early France Catholic Communities.
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07480a.htm
But the most important of the orders established during this period was that of the Holy Ghost. About the middle of the twelfth century (c. 1145) Guy of Montpellier had opened in that city a hospital in honour of the Holy Ghost and prescribed the Rule of St. Augustine for the brothers in charge, Approved 23 April, 1198, by Innocent III, this institute spread rapidly ...
--
The Military Orders

The Crusades gave rise to various orders of chivalry which combined with military service the care of the sick. The earliest of these was the Knights Hospitaller-Order of St. John(not to be confused with St John of God). Several hospitals had already been founded in Jerusalem to provide for pilgrims; the oldest was that connected with the Benedictine Abbey of S. Maria Latina, founded according to one account by Charlemagne in 800; whether the Order of St. John grew out of this or out of the hospital established (1065-70) by Maurus, a wealthy merchant from Amalfi, is uncertain

I think it's going to be difficult to find communities that performed hospital work exclusively from the beginning. Many orders who had early healthcare apostolates also had concurrent education apostolates. I'm thinking of the Sisters of Mercy, the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent dePaul, and a variety of Franciscan communities. Many of these communities added hospitals pre and post Civil War times.
Here in St. Louis, I think the Franciscan Sisters of Mary were strongly involved in healthcare from their first years in the USA.
There is a community of sisters in Kansas City, the Servants of Mary, Ministers of the Sick, but I think they do a lot of home health work. I don't think they ever ran a hospital.
There used to be several communities carrying the title "Sick Poor", e.g. Servants of the Sick Poor, Dominican Sisters of the Sick Poor, etc. Some of them no longer exist or have merged with other communities.
Perhaps you will find more orders of men, like the Alexian Brothers, who have built and operated hospitals as their exclusive work.

+

Little Sisters of the Poor?

http://www.littlesistersofthepoor.org/

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/...promoid=googlep

Sisters of Mercy, definitely. They practically built the American health care system!

Thank you all for the help...I need to look more into those communities you mentioned, but if you have any other ideas, keep them coming!

Thank you all for the help...I need to look more into those communities you mentioned, but if you have any other ideas, keep them coming!