This is a series of short stories culled from SSM Health Care's history. We hope you find the stories interesting and inspiring.

Sheltered and Steamed
From the 11th Annual Report of St. Joseph's Hospital [the original name of St. Francis Hospital & Health Services], Maryville, Mo.:
"St. Joseph's Hospital cared for 249 patients during 1905. . . , many of whom were afflicted with maladies of the gravest nature. Only 11 (less than 5 percent) died. . . . Twenty-seven children were cared for in the hospital. Some of these little people were sheltered the entire year, while in the case of others only a temporary home was necessary until different arrangements could be made for the future of the bereaved ones.
"One of the important improvements . . . was the addition of a steam laundry which was installed at the cost of $1,000."

                                                                                                            -- From Called to be Faithful 
                                                                                                                by Sister Louise Hirner, FSM


Achieving Exceptional Patient Care – 1931 Style

In 1931, Mother Mary Concordia Puppendahl, superior general, wrote to the Sisters in Madison, Wis., about her expectation that they meet monthly to discuss hospital operations. The goal: “mutual helpfulness” among all sisters. In her letter, Mother Puppendahl wrote: “You may think I am expecting too much of you in having to hold these meetings monthly to discuss the management of your hospital; but I am not. Unless we are fully alive, we cannot make progress in our hospitals and we shall remain at a standstill – a bad state for any hospital to be in. . . Try, every one of you, to make your hospital the best! Don’t say that this, that or the other thing is preventing you and that you can’t get there. We shall always have some obstacle in our way, but unless we exert ourselves to step over it, we can never expect to make progress.

                                                                                                           -- From Sisters of Saint Mary
                                                                                                            and their Healing Mission
                                                                                                            by Sister Mary Gabriel Henninger

"Dialogues Between Mother and Her 'Faithful Provider'"

At St. Francis Hospital in Maryville, Mo. (originally named St. Joseph Hospital): "From the very first day the rule was 'turn no one away'; so they never knew whether or not they could pay for what was needed to carry on their work . . . They relied on the providence of God and the intercession of St. Joseph. Down through the years when bills came due and there was no money to pay them, Mother Augustine (Giesen, OSF, in photo) would come to St. Joseph's altar, bills in hand, and talk to him about them -- often in an audible voice -- reminding him that it was his job to provide the where-with-all to carry on the Lord's work. Many of us who knew her carry vivid memories of stepping into the chapel for a short visit and witnessing these dialogues between Mother and her 'faithful provider.' . . . Often the money came -- sometimes mysteriously -- in the next mail. But always before the deadline."

                                                                                                      -- From Called to be Faithful 
                                                                                                          by Sister Louise Hirner, FSM