In 1889 Kate Johnson , a wealthy San Francisco widow made donations to acquire land and build a " sunshine hospital " for women and children under the condition it be operated by the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul . It was built in San Francisco on Guerrero Street . Johnson was impressed with their work with " orphans , beggars , prisoners , the sick , refugees , and the mentally ill " during her European travels . The medical center was founded as Mary 's Help Hospital in 1893 by the Daughters of Charity of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul and a new building , located at 145 Guerrero Street at Brosnan Street ( west of the Levi Strauss factory ) , by April 1906 , was almost completed but destroyed shortly thereafter by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake . In 1912 Mary ’s Help Hospital officially opened as did its nursing school program . In 1913 this made it the largest private hospital in Northern California . The medical center offered free and partial payment services in addition to free food
1906 San Francisco earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
Seton Medical Center