Celebrating 30 Years as Our Region's Health System

A Letter from David O. McCready

David McCready

The birth of Southcoast Health as healthcare system began as a dream, sketched on the back of a napkin, in 1996. But our story starts over 100 years earlier when our first legacy hospitals were founded.

Ours is the story of three communities with the shared vision of providing the region’s residents with the very best care close to home, and how the people of this region helped achieve this goal by philanthropic giving, volunteering their time and labor, and supporting the physicians, nurses and clinicians who serve them.

Throughout our history, our communities have supported and sustained us, helping to build the world-class health system that Southcoast Health is today.

We thank these visionaries who invested in our region’s healthcare through donations and endowments. Their commitment is the reason that today, we deliver advanced care with the latest technologies to treat heart and vascular disease, cancer, brain and spine injury, orthopedic problems, diabetes, obesity, and so much more.

They never settled for less, and as we look forward to the coming decades, we do so with confidence because of the work of those who came before us. Like those who championed the need for high-quality care in their day, the champions of today and tomorrow will continue to propel Southcoast Health forward in the service of our patients and communities.

In every sense, our story is one of which we can be incredibly proud. Wherever we live in the region, we can take pride in our three superb acute care hospitals – Charlton Memorial, St. Luke’s and Tobey – and in the network of urgent care centers, clinics and outpatient offices that offer exceptional and personalized care for our individual and collective healthcare needs.

Since joining Southcoast Health as President and Chief Executive Officer, I have been humbled and inspired by both our employees and the benefactors who enable us to serve you and those you love. We will succeed together because that is what we have always done. It is how great things happen.

With gratitude,

David O. McCready
President & CEO, Southcoast Health

Milestones in Care

1996

Charlton Memorial Hospital, St. Luke’s Hospital and Tobey Hospital merged to form Southcoast Health, the largest not-for-profit community health system in the South Coast region.

2002

Southcoast Health performed the first open-heart surgery in southeastern Massachusetts at Charlton Memorial Hospital.

2009

Southcoast Health Cancer Care opened with the promise to bring our community the latest technology and innovative cancer treatment.

2012

Charlton Memorial surgeons were the first south of Boston to use the da Vinci system to remove a gall bladder with a single site incision through the belly button.

2016

Southcoast Health’s New Beginnings Moms Do Care Program was established to provide support for pregnant and postpartum individuals navigating substance use.

2017

Southcoast Health Brain & Spine opened a specialized area for surgical patients in St. Luke’s Hospital.

2020

Launched COVID-19 testing centers across the region and brought testing to under-represented neighborhoods and communities with our Mobile Health team.

2022

Opened the $25 million Baldwin Makepeace Emergency Center at Tobey Hospital.

2023

The Ion Robotic-Assisted Endoluminal System arrived at Charlton Memorial, enabling surgeons to biopsy, diagnose and treat lung cancers in a single surgery.

2024

Opened the region’s first Menopause & Wellness Program dedicated to comprehensive, individualized care for women in their midlife and menopausal health transition.

2025

Opened our seventh Urgent Care location in Taunton, MA.