The hospital came into existence in 1946 with health professionals who came into Nigeria as missionaries having special interest in the care of patient with leprosy. They were also interested in the prevention of the spread of leprosy and other associated tropical disease conditions. To this end, they established a leprosarium with wide spread of clinics across the Middle Belt Region of Nigeria.

The dear need for indigenous staff, supported by the escalating cost of oversea training made the missionary to develop the idea of establishing a Health Training Institution to feed their health facilities across the region. It was in this spirit that the first application to start a College of Nursing and Midwifery was submitted to the then Benue State Government in 1987.

In 2003, the Management of Holley Memorial Hospital officially applied to the Nursing and M idwifery Council of Nigeria for permission to establish a College of Nursing at her site in Ochadamu.
The Management of the hospital, in partnership with the State Government in their understanding of the dear need for this institution, has made available the present structure, fittings and personnel that have formed the bedrock of this institution.

The need for this College has become more crucial than the time of its conceptualization on the basis of population dynamics and the effect of the changing technological world on the variables of nature.