ST. FRANCIS Through the years

1908: The Sisters of St. Francis open a care home in New Castle.

1919: Care home becomes a full-service hospital.

1992: St. Francis Hospital of New Castle becomes affiliated with the St. Francis Health System in Pittsburgh.

2000: The health system closes its Pittsburgh facility and jobs are eliminated at all sites. In New Castle, 50 full-time employees are laid off in January and another 25 jobs are eliminated from September to November. Officials say its due to the health system's ailing finances.

January 2002: St. Francis Hospital and Jameson Health System announce they are talking about merging.

June 2002: The board of directors of St. Francis Hospital is disbanded because of skyrocketing liability insurance costs.

August 2002: The sale of the St. Francis Health System to Jameson Health System is announced.

Source: Vindicator files