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Honors Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio who started a fully dedicated Children’s Health Care Ministry in 1959
The first fully dedicated medical facility to care for children is celebrating a milestone. Today, marks 55 years since the first Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital opened in San Antonio. Now known as The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio, the mission is still the same and the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word who began that mission were honored today for their years of dedication and service.
The mission of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word actually began in 1869, when three young French nuns left Galveston at the behest of Claude Marie Dubuis, then Bishop of Texas, who asked them to care for the sick and infirm. They arrived to their new home in San Antonio and found a frontier town of 12,000 gripped by a cholera epidemic.
The group founded two orphanages after four children came into their care in 1874. Then, they established the area’s first pediatric ward in 1918. It was their dream to open a children’s hospital, which they did in 1959. They were the city’s first health care providers and today, their commitment to caring for the sick is just as strong.
“I was a young nursing student in 1959 when the first children’s hospital opened,” says Sister Sarah Lennon, CCVI. “I have been privileged to help the Sisters maintain their connection to what is now the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio and the CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health System.”
The sisters play a vital role today in keeping the ministry at the forefront of children’s health care. Many serve in volunteer and chaplaincy roles, visit with children and families, and assist with a variety of outreach services.
Their commitment was remembered in a dedication ceremony as part of the 55 year celebration. The late Sister Mary Aidan Handibode, a devoted Sister of Charity of the Incarnate Word and a registered nurse who worked in the clinics for 50 consecutive years, was honored with the placing of a plaque at the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio. Sr. Aidan, who passed away in 2012, served the community from 1949 to 1999, even after serving as the Clinic Director; she continued to volunteer at the Hospital for many years.
“The dedication and foresight of the Sisters continues to inspire us,” said Patrick B. Carrier, president and chief executive officer of CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health System. “It is through their encouragement that we are able to continue the ministry they started so long ago. As we continue our transformation at Children’s Hospital of San Antonio, their legacy drives us to continue to extend the healing ministry of Jesus Christ.”
“It is my prayer that into a long future, children and families will continue to find hope and healing as Jesus Christ’s healing mission guides the care at the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio,” says Sister Lennon.
Other activities to mark the anniversary include a Spirit Week celebration for Associates and a week-long schedule of activities for physicians, volunteers, patients and families.