St. Mary’s History

In late 1947, five Irish nuns from the Congregation of the Poor Servants of the Mother of God sailed from Southampton, England, drawn by a call to serve the forgotten corners of America. They made their way to Norton, Virginia, in the heart of coal country. There, they saw a community in need—families struggling with the dangers of mining, limited medical access, and the everyday ailments of Appalachian life. In 1948, they purchased and transformed the existing Norton Clinic into St. Mary’s Hospital.

It became the only Catholic hospital in Virginia west of Richmond, a place where faith and medicine walked hand in hand. The sisters—women like Sister Mary Colette, the first administrator, and her assistant Sister Rose—poured their lives into the work. They didn’t just treat patients; they offered dignity, comfort, and a sense of being truly seen in a region too often overlooked. For decades, St. Mary’s stood as a pillar of healing, a non-profit driven by mission rather than margin, where income went back into better equipment, expanded wings, and care for those who could least afford it.

The hospital embodied a simple but profound idea: healthcare as an act of love.

A New Chapter on Wheels

By the early 1980s, the needs of the mountains hadn’t faded. That’s when another remarkable woman, Sister Bernadette Kenny—a medical missionary—arrived in Appalachia. With the steadfast support of St. Mary’s Hospital, she began something revolutionary. At first, it was humble: medications handed out from the trunk of her Volkswagen Beetle. The hospital helped cover costs and, crucially, donated a Winnebago RV that became the original “St. Mary’s Health Wagon.”

What started as one nun’s determination grew into The Health Wagon, a mobile clinic serving the uninsured and underinsured across Wise, Dickenson, Buchanan, Russell, Scott, Lee counties, and the city of Norton. The wagons rolled into remote hollers, fairgrounds, and courthouse squares, bringing primary care, dental services, health education, and hope to people who might otherwise go without. Over the years, the program expanded with more vans, stationary clinics, telemedicine partnerships, and innovative outreach—like the first FAA-approved drone medication delivery in 2015. Even as St. Mary’s Hospital itself eventually transitioned under larger healthcare systems and closed its doors in its original form, its spirit refused to fade. The Health Wagon carried that torch forward, still bearing the St. Mary’s name on some of its vehicles as a living reminder.

The blue St. Mary’s Health Wagon vans became a familiar and welcome sight across the region—mobile symbols of the same compassionate care the sisters once provided from brick-and-mortar walls.

In July 2024, that legacy took a beautiful new form with the opening of St. Mary’s Faith Pharmacy in Wise, right beside The Health Wagon’s offices at 5626 Patriot Drive. Appalachia’s first low-cost and charitable pharmacy, it was named deliberately to honor the hospital that started it all.

Led by Dr. Jennifer Hammons, PharmD, and supported by a dedicated team including Pharmacy Connect Coordinator Heather Mays, the pharmacy provides life-saving medications at no cost to those who need them most. It goes far beyond filling prescriptions: patients receive diabetes education, chronic disease management, medication therapy reviews, telehealth support, preventive screenings, and help navigating patient assistance programs through partnerships with manufacturers and nonprofits. A special blessing by Father Timothy Drake marked the ribbon-cutting, reminding everyone present that this was sacred work continuing a long line of faithful service.

A Living Legacy

St. Mary’s Hospital may no longer stand as it once did, but its heart beats strongly in the mountains of Wise County and beyond. From the Irish sisters who crossed an ocean in 1947 to the nurses, pharmacists, and volunteers of today, the story has always been the same: healthcare rooted in faith, dignity, and a stubborn refusal to let anyone in these hills suffer alone.

St. Mary’s Faith Pharmacy isn’t just a new facility. It’s the next chapter in a story of love made practical—one prescription, one patient, one act of kindness at a time. In a region that has known its share of hardship, this is what resilience and compassion look like when they refuse to quit.

If you’re in Wise or the surrounding areas and need help, or if you’d like to support this vital work, visit thehealthwagon.org or stop by 5626 Patriot Drive. The doors—and the legacy—are wide open.