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Catherine McAuley was the first Sister of Mercy.
At an early age Catherine learned the ways of mercy from her
father, a man who had great compassion for the poor.
Catherine's father died when she was young and
her mother was unable to keep the family together. Eventually
Catherine lived as a housekeeper for a wealthy Quaker family,
the Callahans, near Dublin, Ireland. Catherine became like a
daughter to them and all converted to Catholicism before they
died.
Upon their death, the Callahans
left their entire estate to Catherine - worth nearly a million
dollars.
What would she do with the money?
Catherine made a choice that is still influencing the world
today. She consolidated all her money and bought a large dwelling
in the center of Dublin where she gathered homeless women and
children. She was joined by other women of Mercy, and the simple
nutrition and cleanliness taught by the Sisters allowed the
sick to recuperate and thrive.
Ministry in America - Philadelphia: 1861
 In
1861 Sister Patricia Waldron and ten other Sisters of Mercy
left Ireland for Philadelphia. Many casualties of the Civil
War were being evacuated to two hospitals in Philadelphia and
the Sisters of Mercy are noted to have served as nurses for
the wounded.
At the same time, the young immigrants went
about setting up two schools. The first was an academy for paying
students during the day.
The second was conducted in the evening, a free
school for working women and girls.
Times were extremely hard for this young community.
They were often hungry and many became severely ill. But, true
to the legacy of Catherine McAuley, these early Philadelphia
Sisters continued to make choices based on the needs of the
poor, sick and uneducated.
A New Ministry - West Philadelphia: 1915
In the early 1900's a unique opportunity came
before Sister Patricia Waldron. Archbishop Pendergast requested
that the Sisters of Mercy build and staff a Catholic hospital
in West Philadelphia. To say "yes" involved great
risk. The Sisters had neither land nor money to invest in the
project. They had no organizational experience in health care.
Nevertheless, the needs of God's people impelled their choice.
By mortgaging their only property, the Motherhouse,
they acquired money for a down payment and founded Mercy Hospital
in the City of Philadelphia (renamed Misericordia Hospital,
Latin for "heart of mercy.") Nearly seventy years
later, long after all the original sisters had died, and as
other hospitals were closing, the mortgage on Misericordia was
paid in full. Today, Mercy Hospital of Philadelphia (renamed
in 1997) stands as the only community hospital in West Philadelphia.
Mercy Health Plan: 1983
Throughout its eighty-plus years in West Philadelphia,
Mercy Hospital has experienced many changes and challenges.
In the 1970's and early 80's, the hospital witnessed a troubling
increase in the number of people mostly on Medical Assistance
using the emergency room to seek primary care. This was not
a good solution to obtaining non-emergency care. The critical
pace of an emergency room is not intended to foster a patient/physician
relationship.
Thus the concept of Mercy Health Plan was born,
a voluntary Medical Assistance managed care plan. The Plan would
work to connect each member with a primary care physician, to
encourage consistent and proactive health care, to extend benefits
beyond the state fee-for-service model and to utilize the emergency
room for emergencies.
But to begin such a plan was a risky choice!
No one had done it before. Financial advisors cautioned that
it would probably be a money-losing endeavor. Still, we believed
it would be good for the members and the community.
Today, Mercy Health System, a healthcare ministry
of the Sisters of Mercy of Merion, Pennsylvania, is a member
of Catholic Health East and is comprised of acute care hospitals,
ambulatory centers, physicians practices, skilled nursing facilities,
an independent living facility, home health care and Medicaid
managed care plans.
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