Grace Medical Center, formerly Bon Secours Hospital, opened its doors in 1919 in West Baltimore. But the roots go deeper. The hospital was founded by the Sisters of Bon Secours, a French Catholic order that began its mission in 1824 to provide compassionate health care to those in need. Bon Secours literally means “good help” in French—a name that stands in sharp contrast to the hospital’s reputation among many Baltimore residents.
Baltimore was the first U.S. city where the Sisters chose to establish a hospital, marking a significant milestone in the organization’s global mission. Although their headquarters remain in Paris, the U.S. operations are run from their provincial house in Marriottsville, Maryland.
Since 1919, Bon Secours has expanded into seven other states, building a network of community hospitals. But their West Baltimore facility—now Grace Medical Center—has remained a persistent outlier in both size and performance.
A Modern Hospital Still Fighting a Reputation in West Baltimore
As of 2025, Grace Medical Center operates with just 69 inpatient beds, making it one of the smallest acute care hospitals in the Baltimore region. Following its 2019 acquisition by LifeBridge Health and rebranding from Bon Secours Hospital, there was hope—both inside the building and out—that a new name, new management, and new capital investment might erase a century of deeply entrenched problems.
To LifeBridge’s credit, they invested in a substantial renovation of the emergency department, which now treats over 20,000 patients per year. The facility’s public-facing image has improved: the ER looks modern, the signage is updated, and the architecture no longer screams neglect. On paper, the hospital is trying to grow, faster than its footprint realistically allows. But while the paint is fresh, the stigma is not.
This is still Bon Secours to the people of West Baltimore, and that name is synonymous with medical failure. Grace Medical’s reputation was not lightly earned, and it will not be easily shaken. The nickname “Bon Se-Killer” still circulates in the community, a grim nod to the hospital’s history of high readmission rates, poor discharge planning, and catastrophic lapses in basic care. In some Baltimore neighborhoods, this hospital is where you go when you have no other options—and everyone knows it.
Surveys conducted just prior to the rebranding painted a damning picture:
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Only 37% of patients “strongly agreed” they understood their care at discharge—well below the statewide average.
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Readmission rates were the highest in Maryland, a key metric that typically signals subpar inpatient care or systemic failure in discharge and follow-up processes.
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Leapfrog’s 2021 Safety Grade gave the hospital among the lowest scores in the state, and more recent performance data remains scarce—perhaps because there has not been much worth reporting.
Even today, patient satisfaction and transparency remain limited. Grace Medical has not earned the public’s trust, and doctors and nurses working within the system often describe burnout, high turnover, and chronic understaffing, especially in critical departments like the ER and surgical services.
Renovation ≠ Transformation
A shiny ER and a name change do not erase a legacy of preventable harm. Grace Medical’s systemic failures were never just about outdated equipment or peeling linoleum floors. They were about decision-making—about policies that underprioritized low-income patients, failed to retain competent staff, and often treated patient safety as a secondary concern.
Those are the kinds of cultural issues that do not change just because a different logo goes on the letterhead.
And that is why the hospital’s legal exposure in malpractice litigation remains elevated, even years after the rebrand. Defense lawyers know that jurors in Baltimore City are aware of the hospital’s reputation—and that they are more likely to believe patients who say something went wrong.
The hospital may want to leave the Bon Secours name behind, but in the courtroom and in the streets of West Baltimore, it is still Grace in name, Bon Secours in reputation.
Bon Secours’ Defense Team
Bon Secours/Grace Medical Center has been defended by Miles & Stockbridge in a few claims filed against the hospital in recent years. Miles & Stockbridge is a mid-sized law firm with a good reputation.
Obtaining Medical Records from Bon Secours Hospital/Grace Medical
When you hire a Baltimore medical malpractice attorney, your lawyer will collect the medical records for you. If our law firm agrees to review your case, we advance the costs, and the client pays for the cost out of their settlement. Of course, if you are a lawyer or you want to get a head start for yourself, you can request the medical records by sending correspondence to:
Grace Medical Center
2000 West Baltimore Street
Baltimore, MD 21223
ATTN: MEDICAL RECORDS
Value of a Malpractice Case Against Grace Medical
We do not know of any Bon Secours cases that have gone to trial in recent years. There was a verdict of more than $3 million against this hospital, about 8 or 9 years ago but nothing since. Again, this is a pretty small hospital, so there is never going to be a high volume of claims against it.
Certainly, Grace Medical does not have the best reputation. Again, Bon Secours was known across West Baltimore as “Bon Se-Killer.” Indeed, these facts make it easier to settle cases with this hospital because its malpractice lawyers know that jurors perceive this hospital as inferior. Those same lawyers would prefer to avoid West Baltimore jurors for that very reason.
So, not surprisingly, the claims we have seen that have been filed against Grace Medical in recent years have been resolved before trial. But looking at verdicts against the hospital is not the best path towards a better understanding of the settlement value of medical malpractice cases. It is more helpful to look at hospital verdicts and verdicts in particular types of cases.
Contact Us
Our law firm earns millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts in hospital malpractice cases for our clients every year. If you believe that you have a medical malpractice lawsuit against Grace Medical/Bon Secours Hospital, or any other health care provider in Maryland, contact our malpractice attorneys at 1-800-553-8082 or get a free online consultation.