Monument Health traces its history back to 1878, when Sisters of the Holy Cross opened a hospital in gold rush mining camp of Deadwood. Other communities, including Sturgis, Custer, Spearfish and Rapid City, built hospitals of their own in subsequent years.
Rapid City had two hospitals, St. John’s McNamara and Bennett-Clarkson. However, by the 1970s high costs and new medical technology prompted local officials to look at merging the hospitals into a single system. In December 1979, the combined Rapid City Regional Hospital opened. In later years, health care providers in Custer, Lead-Deadwood, Sturgis, Spearfish and other communities joined the Monument Health network.
