St. John Health hospitals are leaders in medical care and technology in southeast Michigan. Here are some of St. John Health’s accomplishments that are firsts or bests in the area or the state:

• St. John Hospital and Medical Center performed the first laparoscopic gallbladder removal in Michigan.
• St. John Hospital and Medical Center the first hospital in southeast Michigan to offer a new minimally invasive procedure for removing rectal tumors.
• St. John Hospital and Medical Center the first in southeast Michigan to use the new SilverHawk Plaque Excision System to treat painful symptoms of peripheral vascular disease.
• St. John Oakland Hospital was the first in Michigan to use the Bravo pH Monitoring System, a new diagnostic product that uses wireless technology to test for acid reflux, or gastroesophageal reflux disease.
• St. John Health Heart Care one of the first in the nation to perform bypass surgery using revolutionary new techniques encompassing compact (miniature) cardiopulmonary bypass circuits.
• St. John Health Heart Care one of the first in the country to perform new surgical procedures for the treatment of atrial fibrillation.
• St. John Health Heart Care the first in Michigan to offer patients a new radiation treatment aimed at preventing coronary artery restenosis.
• St. John Hospital and Medical Center was the first hospital in southeast Michigan and one of the first in the nation to implant stents in carotid arteries as an alternative to traditional surgery, to perform abdominal aortic aneurysm surgery using AneuRX stents and to use Port A – minimally invasive heart surgery to replace the mitral valve.
• St. John Hospital and Medical Center performed the first pancreas transplant in southeast Michigan.
• St. John Hospital and Medical Center was the first hospital in southeast Michigan to offer a Level III Neonatology Intensive Care Unit.
• St. John River District Hospital inpatient care ranked as number one by patients in 2003 and 2004, compared to more than 20 hospitals in southeast Michigan according to a survey by Press Ganey.
• The Van Elslander Cancer Center at St. John Hospital and Medical Center opened the first Gilda’s Club in Detroit.
• Providence is 1st in the U.S. to treat patients for Aneurysm Coil Study
• Providence surgeons perform area's first FDA approved Brain Stent Procedure 
• Providence Hospital is the first in its region to test a new Minimally Invasive Spinal Fusion device, a device that could dramatically change the way surgeons perform spinal fusion surgery for a common back condition. 
• According to a recent study at Providence Hospital, a blood test in combination with a stress test can help better determine if someone is likely to have a blocked heart artery. The study was presented today at the 2005 American College of Cardiology's Scientific Session in Orlando. It was one of the first studies of its kind. 
• Providence Hospital is leading the way in Minimally Invasive Liver Surgery
• St. John Health doctors are enhancing cancer and heart care with Roving PET/CT Scan.  St. John Health is one of the first health systems in the state to offer a mobile PET/CT scanner. PET/CT is one of the most advanced diagnostic technologies available.  
• St. John Health enhances care with internet based wireless heart device    
• St. John Macomb Hospital is the 1st in Michigan to use a new device to confirm the success of heart surgery.
• Providence opens area's first Joslin Diabetes Center.