The building sits at the center of a 277-acre (112 ha) campus, it rises approximately 170 feet (52 m) and 11 stories.

It was designed by noted American architect Bertrand Goldberg, best known for the Marina City complex in Chicago.

Their resignation came during a period of high anti-Catholic sentiment in the city, provoked by the local Know Nothing political movement.

The Sisters decided to move the hospital to a 250-acre (100 ha) site on the western boundary of the city.

By this time Goldberg had completed a number of other healthcare facilities and had refined his innovative "bed-cluster pod."