The Evansville medical community provides health care for the metropolitan region with three general hospitals, diagnostic and rehabilitation clinics, and 16 nursing and convalescent homes. Mental health care is a primary specialty offered by several public and private facilities. More than 500 physicians and specialists and more than 100 dentists practice in Evansville.
Deaconess Hospital offers a broad range of inpatient and outpatient medical, surgical and diagnostic services in its 360-bed tertiary care center. It is one of the largest hospitals in the region, serving a 26-county area of southwestern Indiana, southeastern Illinois, and northwestern Kentucky. St. Mary's Medical Center maintains 520 acute-care patient beds, 32 extended care patient beds, and a special care nursery. Services include a laser center, a chemical dependence center, women's health services, a long-term care program for senior citizens, and a heliport for air transportation. In 1998, St. Mary's Medical Center acquired Welborn Baptist Hospital, a 407 bed facility general hospital providing medical, surgical, and mental health services.