The Jameson Memorial Hospital School of Nursing is a place of action....where modern facilities set the scene for the education of today's student for the important and exciting profession of nursing.

     The student entering our program will be challenged by this stimulating environment but will soon be aware of the inheritance of rich tradition of one of the most respected professions in the world today.  Throughout its over 100-year history, more than 2,330 students have graduated from the Jameson Memorial Hospital School of Nursing and gone forth to make satisfying and rewarding careers for themselves.

     The School was founded in 1895 as the Shenango Valley Training School, part of the 80-bed Shenango Valley Hospital, which first opened its doors in 1893.  There was no separate building for the school, and the students were housed in the Hospital itself.

     As new concepts of medical care emerged, Mr. David Jameson, who had served as president of the Shenango Valley Hospital, recognized the great need for improved hospital facilities.  In October 1926, he announced that he would provide a fund for the building of a new hospital as "a more permanent and lasting testimony" of the "friendly sentiments" he held toward the community.  A site was selected in a residential area between West Leasure and West Garfield Avenues, bordering on Wilmington Road, one mile north of the city's business section.

    Construction began in 1927, shortly after Mr. Jameson's death.  In the Fall of 1929, the new Hospital, with 140 beds and 28 bassinets for newborn infants, was completed and presented to the people of New Castle and Lawrence County by Mrs. Jameson. At the same time, Mrs. Jameson and her daughter, Mrs.  Elizabeth Jameson McCreery, mad a further gift of a new nurses' residence, which was built on the Hospital campus.  Patients were transferred from the old hospital to the new, and Jameson Memorial Hospital School of Nursing became the successor to the Shenango Valley Training School.

     Since its beginning, Jameson Memorial Hospital School of Nursing has been responsive to the growing health care needs of the community it serves.  Over the years, the facilities have continually been upgraded to reflect the rapid growth of modern medical knowledge.

     The Hospital is a private, not-for-profit, acute-care hospital and is operated by a Board of Directors composed of civic leaders, representing many walks of community life.

     The School of Nursing now occupies the May Emma Hoyt Nurses' Residence, completed in 1962 and named in honor of its principal donor.  The original residence was completely remodeled to provide new classrooms and offices for the school.

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