In the mid-nineteenth century, many German and Irish migrants worked on the Erie and Oswego canals, the railroad, or for salt producers.
As the area was growing rapidly, eight Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia came to Syracuse in March 1860 to teach at Assumption School and St. Joseph's in Utica.
The hospital had a unique charter for its time; open to caring for the sick without distinction as to nationality, religion, or color.
Dennis McCarthy followed Theodore Dissel as president; he was later followed by Burns Lyman Smith and Harvey D. Burrill of the Syracuse Journal.
[8] In July 1918, St. Joseph’s was one of a number of local hospitals providing emergency care to those injured in an explosion of TNT at the munitions factory at Split Rock.
[10] In 2016, St. Joseph's settlement with state and federal prosecutors for $3.2 million for employing unlicensed mental health counselors.
The Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program (CPEP) with 10 beds was added in 2017, so patients with mental health crises may be treated in a specialized environment.
[12] In April 2020, in response to New York State's directive for hospitals to halt elective surgeries as a COVID-19 precaution, St Joseph's furloughed 500 employees, linking the move to the suspension of outpatient procedures.
)[24][25][22] In 2017, Auburn Community Hospital signed an agreement with St. Joseph's Health and the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) which allows for shared services while maintaining their independence.