Category: Events

St. Clare’s Mercy Hospital has a rich history dating back to May 21, 1922 when the Sisters of Mercy of Newfoundland opened a hospital in a small dwelling, the “White House” to care for 23 patients. From these small beginnings has grown a Tertiary, adult acute care hospital serving the people of Newfoundland and Labrador for over 100 years.

1913: “White House” purchased from the Honorable E. M. Jackman to be operated by the Sisters of Mercy as a home for working girls

                                                       St Clare’s 1916

 

1921: The “White House” was renovated to serve as a hospital. Archbishop E.P. Roche laid plans for the improvement whish included sending a Sister of Mercy to Mercy Hospital in Pittsburg to train as a nurse

1922: May 21 St. Clare’s Mercy Hospital was officially opened to care for 23 patients Sister Mary Bernard Gladney, graduate nurse, was appointed Superintendent.  The following year Sister Mary Aloysius Rawlins took on the position of superintendant

1939: New modern 100 bed building opened west of the “White House” on LeMarchant Road
St. Clare’s Mercy Hospital School of Nursing was opened with accommodations for the students in a duplex house next to the hospital

1941: First Graduation of St. Clare’s Nursing School- five graduates

1950: Opening of a large chapel and additional facilities for pediatric, obstetric and dietary services
–   Our Lady of Lourdes window installed on chapel corridor in memory of Sister Mary Aloysius Rawlins who had been administrator of St. Clare’s for over twenty years.

1956: Board of Governors and Medical Advisory Committee established

1958: Our Lady of Lourdes Hall opened to accommodate 100 nursing students

1959: St. Clare’s granted its first full accreditation by Canadian Council on Hospital Accreditation

1960:  St. Clare’s was incorporated

1962: Opening of New wing on St. Clare Avenue to provide accommodation for 100 additional patients

1967: St. Clare’s Mercy Hospital Auxiliary set up.  Mrs. Joan Parker Crosbie was first President

1963: Planning begun for another extension of hospital. 1968 Recognition as teaching hospital affiliated with Memorial University

1972: Golden Anniversary of the opening of St. Clare’s. New wing officially opened. Hospital population now increased to 300 patients

1975: Department of Pastoral Care established. Sister M. Carmelita Power appointed as Director

1978: Talbot House, a Residential Detoxification Center was opened on Deanery Avenue

1979: First Palliative Care Unit east of Montreal opened. The unit was transferred to the Leonard A. Miller Centre in 2002

1984: St. Clare’s was selected as one of ten test sites for a national computerized information management project

1985: Establishment of St. Clare’s Mercy Hospital Foundation
–   Computers were introduced- Meditech system for patient information

1994: St. Clare’s sold to provincial government and incorporated into Health Care Corporation of St. John’s, 1995
–    Opening of LeMarchant House, a mental health day program/centre

1995: St. Clare’s Mercy Hospital Advisory Council was established to foster Mission, Values and Ethics

2004: Sisters of Mercy donated a ceramic mural “For Mercy Has a Human Heart” placed in the front entrance. Artist – Gerald Squires

2005: Eastern Health, Regional Authority established for administration of all health care services in Avalon, Burin and Bonavista Peninsulas, including St. Clare’s

12 December 1831  marks the date on which Catherine McAuley and her companions, Anna Maria Doyle and Elizabeth Harley, returned to Baggot Street from the Presentation Convent at Georges Hill, having just professed their vows as the first Sisters of Mercy. And so began the story of the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy,  brought to Newfoundland on 3 June 1842, the first foundation of the Sisters of Mercy in the New World.

Mary C. Sullivan rsm, described this day in her book ‘The Path of Mercy’, the authorised biography of Catherine McAuley –

‘In early morning of December 12, 1831 at a Mass in the convent chapel on George’s Hill, Catherine McAuley, Mary Ann Doyle and Elizabeth Harley professed their vows of “perpetual poverty, chastity and obedience.” The wording of the Act of Profession that each pronounced in the presence of Archbishop Murray also included the promise “to persevere until the end of my life in the Congregation called the Sisters of Mercy, established for the visitation of the sick poor, and charitable instruction of poor females, according to the Rules and Constitution of the Presentation Order, subject to such alteration as shall be approved by the Archbishop.”

Their Act of Profession that morning constituted the founding of the Sisters of Mercy. Much personal courage and resoluteness, as well as trust in the providence of a merciful God lay behind their human words… The human journey to December 12,1831 had not been without its ups and downs, its ”joys and sorrows mingled, one succeeding the other” as Catherine later concluded the lives of the Sisters of Mercy would often be.’

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El 12 de diciembre de 1831 marca la fecha en que Catalina McAuley y sus compañeras, Anna María Doyle y Elizabeth Harley, regresaron a Baggot Street desde el Convento de la Presentación en Georges Hill, tras haber profesado sus votos como las primeras Hermanas de la Misericordia. Así comenzó la historia de la Congregación de las Hermanas de la Misericordia, llevada a Terranova el 3 de junio de 1842, la primera fundación de las Hermanas de la Misericordia en el Nuevo Mundo.

Mary C. Sullivan rsm, describió este día en su libro ‘The Path of Mercy’, la biografía autorizada de Catherine McAuley –

‘En la madrugada del 12 de diciembre de 1831, en una misa celebrada en la capilla del convento de George’s Hill, Catalina McAuley, Mary Ann Doyle y Elizabeth Harley profesaron sus votos de «pobreza perpetua, castidad y obediencia». El texto del Acta de Profesión que cada una pronunció en presencia del Arzobispo Murray también incluía la promesa de «perseverar hasta el final de mi vida en la Congregación llamada Hermanas de la Misericordia, establecida para la visita de los enfermos pobres y la instrucción caritativa de las mujeres pobres, de acuerdo con las Reglas y Constitución de la Orden de la Presentación, sujeta a las modificaciones que apruebe el Arzobispo».

El Acto de Profesión de esa mañana constituyó la fundación de las Hermanas de la Misericordia. Detrás de sus palabras humanas había mucho coraje personal y determinación, así como confianza en la providencia de un Dios misericordioso… El viaje humano hasta el 12 de diciembre de 1831 no había estado exento de altibajos, de «alegrías y penas mezcladas, una sucediendo a la otra», como Catalina concluyó más tarde que serían a menudo las vidas de las Hermanas de la Misericordia.’

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