History
St. Mary’s Nursing Home, Southern Maryland’s first nursing center, was established in 1965.
The original building was housed in what is now called the St. Mary’s County Health Department and had 66 beds. The St. Mary’s County Building Authority Commission, a public instrumentality of the County Commissioners of St. Mary’s County, owned the original nursing facility.
On September 4, 1987, the current facility was given approval to transfer the 71 residents from that facility to the newly constructed four-story brick building, which became known as St. Mary’s Nursing Center. The resident population gradually grew and in December of 1987, approval was given to increase the 103 residents to 138. In December of 1993, the facility was granted approval to expand the facility once again with additional spacing to house 54 additional residents bringing the capacity to 208.
On July 2, 2001, the facility was incorporated in the State of Maryland and became the St. Mary’s Nursing Center, Inc. As St. Mary’s Nursing Center, Inc., a volunteer Governing Board of Trustees was appointed by the St. Mary’s County Board of Commissioners to assist the Administrator in overseeing operations.
In June 2010, the St. Mary’s Nursing Center, Inc. Governing Board of Trustees obtained a loan to satisfy the outstanding portion of the Bond issued by the St. Mary’s County Building authority and purchased the property from St. Mary’s County.
In November 2010, the Board of Commissioners of St. Mary’s County changed the By-Laws for St. Mary’s Nursing Center, Inc. to remove all involvement by the County Government in the operations of the Center.
The actions by the St. Mary’s Nursing Center, Inc. Governing Board of Trustees and the Board of County Commissioners of St. Mary’s County has established St. Mary’s Nursing Center, Inc. as an independent, self-sustaining, self-perpetuating entity operating a Comprehensive Nursing Care Facility under the regulatory oversight of the Office of Health Care Quality of the Maryland Department of Health & Mental Hygiene.