

Portland was a city of 70,000 when Emily Loveridge arrived, fresh from Bellevue Hospital's School of Nursing in New York City. Good Samaritan Hospital was a two-story building with 50 beds. But it was there that Emily Loveridge found her life's work and was a major force in bringing nursing to professional status in the West. She had determination, spirit and the willingness to work hard. As one of only three graduate nurses in Portland, she recognized the need for qualified nurses and on June 1, 1890, with five students enrolled, opened the first school of nursing in the Northwest. She established a tradition of excellence in nursing that remains as the foundation of Linfield-Good Samaritan School of Nursing today.
In 1982, in response to the national trend in nursing education to place the education of nurses in institutions of higher learning, Emily Loveridge's Good Samaritan Hospital School of Nursing became the Linfield-Good Samaritan School of Nursing under the auspices of Linfield College, a strong, liberal arts college. Today's graduates receive a Bachelor's of Science in Nursing degree.
Whether the School was responding to the need for nurses to help victims of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake or providing medical care during World Wars I and II, nurses trained at Good Samaritan Hospital have responded to health care needs throughout the region, the country and the world. That tradition continues today with the Linfield-Good Samaritan School of Nursing. Graduates work not only in the Northwest, but throughout the world. The tradition of excellence in nursing education continues.