Providence Reflections - Inside Prov

Providence Reflections

A Journey of Courage and Grace

Celebrating Providence Centralia Hospital 1988-2018

ProvidenceReflections

Table of Contents Introduction

Our Providence Journey in Lewis County..................................................3

Emilie Gamelin

A Journey of Grief to Compassion.............................................................6

Mother Joseph

A Journey from Montreal to Fort Vancouver..............................................8

Sister Carolyn Koreski, SP

A Woman of Compassion, Humor and Grace...........................................10

Our Providence Mission

As Expressions of God's Healing Love......................................................13 Witnessed Through the Ministry of Jesus..................................................15 We are Steadfast in Serving All...............................................................17 Especially Those Who are Poor and Vulnerable.........................................19

Sister Barbara Schamber, SP

The Future: Leading Through Transformative Change..............................21

COVER PHOTO: Sisters of Providence welcome Archbishop Thomas Murphy as they bless Providence Centralia Hospital on April 1, 1988..

The Sisters of Providence have entrusted their remarkable legacy to us.

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ntroduction

O n April 1, 1988, the Sisters of Providence in Washington purchased Centralia General Hospital at 1820 Cooks Hill Road. However, the newly acquired facility was not the first ministry with a Sisters of Providence presence in Centralia or the first Catholic-sponsored hospital in Lewis County. In 1945, Bishop Shaughnessy of Seattle asked the Sisters to come to St. Luke's Infirmary at 701 `H' Street in Centralia. The New York-based Carmelite Sisters had staffed the home for the aged and infirm for three years but were returning to their East Coast home. The Sisters of Providence answered the call and later purchased the 70-bed infirmary from the Archdiocese of Seattle in 1953. While the initial request to staff St. Luke's was for a temporary presence, the Sisters considered it their mission to care for the elderly and ill. Each year, six Sisters of Providence served at St. Luke's until its closing in 1969. The building needed great repair and other local nursing homes were available to meet the community's need for long-term care.

St. Luke's Infirmary, Centralia, WA.

"You understand that the mention of a hospital to a Sister of Providence is like touching every fiber of her heart." Mother Joseph ? April 24, 1865

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A Catholic response

Many people in Lewis County remember the first Catholic hospital in Chehalis ? St. Helen Hospital. In 1907, The Dominican Sisters of Edmonds responded to citizens' requests to build and staff a hospital to care for the poor and elderly in Chehalis. The Union Pacific Railroad was extending its line from Portland to Seattle and claimed it would patronize a hospital built midway between Vancouver and Olympia. Doctors and civic leaders petitioned Mother Angela, OP.

Local fundraising brought $11,000, while three local benefactors and a bank loaned the Dominican Sisters $19,000. Mill owners contributed lumber and local priest Father Francis Moens oversaw construction while doing carpentry work, never accepting payment for his skills.

St. Helen Hospital opened on December 11, 1907, in a four-story building with a hipped roof and front balcony. The first patient, a 52-yearold man, was admitted with heart and kidney disease. His 30-day stay cost $36 and was paid in full.

The Edmonds Dominican Sisters continued to serve the community and grow their health care services with new additions and remodeling.

The Sisters of Providence acquired

the facility in July 1983, continuing a Catholic health care presence in Lewis County. Dominican Sisters Perpetua Haughian, OP and Miriam Kahl, OP, continued to serve the community in the pastoral care and medical records departments until they retired.

In January 1988, the Sisters of Providence filed a Certificate of Need application for the purchase of Centralia General Hospital, Centralia, Washington.

April 1, 1988, Centralia General Hospital officially became Providence Hospital Centralia, and management of the facility became the responsibility of the Sisters of Providence. While St. Helen Hospital, Chehalis, officially became Providence Hospital, Chehalis campus.

Their lives of service, their dreams and disappointments, their

Sister Carolyn Koreski, SP, who entered the Sisters of Providence in July 1954, assumed the role of Sister Representative in 1983 at the Chehalis campus and continued her ministry as Providence Centralia Hospital grew in its service to the community.

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Sister Carolyn Koreski, SP, in front of the history wall at Providence Centralia Hospital.

As we continue to work in modern health care, we do well to pause and glimpse at our pioneering predecessors, the women and men who brought Catholic health care to our community.

Providence Reflections offers a glimpse into how the Sisters and their successors answered the call to serve. Let the people who committed their hearts, minds and tireless energy to caring for others inspire you. Their

lives of service, their dreams and disappointments, their savvy decisions and spiritual courage continue to inform our work.

Use Providence Reflections to renew your commitment to continuing the healing ministry of Jesus. Take quiet time alone or use this collection for discussion at your team meetings.

These stories demonstrate our heritage - a heritage we joyfully claim and carry into the future.

savvy decisions and spiritual courage continue to inform our work.

"Tend the flock of God that is in your charge not by constraint, but willingly; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not as domineering

over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another." 1 Peter 5:2, 3,5b

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