The Franciscan Sisters of Allegany, New York, [7] trace their beginnings to April 25, 1859, when, in the chapel of St. Bonaventure College and Seminary, Father Pamfilo da Magliano, O.S.F., gave the habit of the Third Order of St. Francis and the name, Sister Mary Joseph, to Mary Jane Todd. Father Pamfilo, the custos-Provincial of the Friars Minor of the Immaculate Conception Custody, had come with three other friars to western New York in 1855 at the invitation of Bishop John Timon, C.M., of the Diocese of Buffalo and Nicholas Devereux, a Catholic layman and land owner. The friars had come to educate young men at St. Bonaventure and carry on pastoral work in the area. Bishop Timon had also asked Father Pamfilo to “seek for Sisters of the Third Order” to provide education for the young women of the area, and his search led him to form a new congregation in Allegany, New York.
After the reception of Sister Mary Joseph, Ellen Fallon was received on June 24, 1859, and took the name Sister Mary Bridget. Several months later, these two sisters were joined by Mary Anne O'Neil, a 15-year-old girl from New Jersey who had been exhorted by Father Pamfilo, “to be generous with the Lord despite her young years.” Mary Anne was received on Dec. 8, 1859, and took the name Sister Mary Teresa.
These three women formed the nucleus of the new community which soon began to attract other young women from the surrounding areas. From the beginning of the congregation, the sisters were under the jurisdiction of Father Pamfilo. He appointed the officers of the new community until 1865, when he presented the sisters with their first statutes, which had been adapted from those of the Franciscan Sisters in Glasgow, Scotland. That same year, the sisters elected Sister Mary Teresa O'Neil as their general superior, who served in this capacity for 55 years.
The new community grew, and the sisters sought to serve the needs of the church in a variety of ministries. In 1860, St. Elizabeth Academy opened in Allegany for the education of young women, and from this beginning the sisters branched out to open schools in Connecticut, New York and other East Coast states. In 1879, three sisters were sent to Jamaica and British West Indies, and the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany became the first American-founded congregation of religious women to send sisters to foreign missions.
In the 1880s and 1890s, the sisters became affiliated with hospitals in Boston and New York City. They also expanded to homes for the young and elderly, pastoral and social work. Many of these ministries, including health care, continue today. [7]
History
Southern New Jersey experienced a rapid growth in population immediately preceding and during World War II. Many of the new residents were Catholic, and their fast influx demanded the formation of new parishes and facilities. In the early 1940s, Bishop Bartholomew J. Eustace invited the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany to build a hospital in the Diocese of Camden. Bishop Eustace knew of the Sisters when they cared for his mother during her final years at their hospital, St. Elizabeth's, in New York City.
In December 1945, the Dominican Sisters of the Perpetual Rosary agreed to sell a portion of their property at Haddon Avenue and Euclid Street in Camden to the Third Order Regular of St. Francis of Allegany, New York for the construction of a hospital. Construction began in September 1947, with Bishop Eustace laying the cornerstone a year later.
On March 15, 1950, 2½ years after ground was broken for Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center, construction was completed on the 300-bed hospital. On May 28, Bishop Eustace presided at a dedication ceremony attended by 3,000, including several hundred priests, physicians and civic leaders. The inscription above the main entrance, “The Body Is Often Curable — The Soul Is Ever So,” spoke to the new hospital's commitment to Franciscan values.
The Diocese raised $1 million, or one-quarter the cost of the new hospital. The Franciscan Sisters assumed a debt of more than $3 million. The Rev. Mother Jean Marie Greeley appointed Mother Mary Paracleta the first hospital administrator. She served in that post until 1969, and was a driving force behind Lourdes’ initial growth.
Camden was a thriving city when Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center was planned and built. However, in the 1960s, Camden fell prey to an urban manufacturing decline and an exodus of middle-class residents to the suburbs.
The Franciscan Sisters realized there was a need to develop top-quality specialty services that would draw patients from throughout southern New Jersey. These services would support the hospital's mission of staying in Camden and providing quality care to its residents while also serving the growing suburban population. The hospital developed several regional services to sustain the organization, including cardiology, high-risk maternity, physical rehabilitation, dialysis and organ transplantation.
The facility itself has been expanded and improved many times to meet the needs of the community.
Planning for the addition of a School of Nursing began in 1956. Groundbreaking for the school occurred in 1959 on the medical center's campus, and the first class of nurses was accepted in 1961. “We may sometimes wonder why the sisters embark on such great projects,” Camden Bishop Justin J. McCarthy said during the school's groundbreaking ceremony. “They always want to do great work for God. I’m sure the nurses trained here will obtain a true sense of the spirit of Christian charity. Let us not forget that the nurses are the right hand of the doctors.”
From 1970 to 1971, the hospital underwent the first of several renovations, a $2 million project for intensive care, cardiac care and surgical recovery areas. In 1976, the medical center completed a $6.9 million construction project. The four-story addition housed a new 50-bed rehabilitation center, as well as expanded outpatient and emergency departments. In 1988, the medical center completed a three-year, $42 million renovation and expansion that included two new patient floors; a spacious solarium; new pediatrics, inpatient dialysis and mental health units; a women's services floor; a new cardiac services floor; larger and modernized patient rooms throughout the medical center; new radiology and laboratory equipment; and new nursing stations.
Two years later, Angel's Alley, one of the region's first hospital-based child-care centers, opened. Angel's Alley not only cares for the children of employees, but also those from the neighborhood, allowing their parents the opportunity to find productive, economically beneficial jobs.
In 1999, the Sister M. Elizabeth Corry Ambulatory Care Center opened across Haddon Avenue from the hospital. The 46,000-square-foot (4,300 m2) building, named for the medical center's long-time president, houses the Osborn Family Health Center, outpatient dialysis and organ transplant facilities.
In 2005, Lourdes opened a $60-million expansion that features a new emergency department, operating suites, patient rooms, laboratories and School of Nursing. Also in 2005, Lourdes, now with 410 beds, became the first hospital in the Delaware Valley to acquire a 64-slice CT scanner. [8]
Extending the mission
For more than four decades, residents of Burlington County have relied on Lourdes Medical Center of Burlington County for their inpatient and outpatient health care.
The hospital was founded by a group of 11 physicians, led by Meyer Abrams, M.D., who felt the need to develop a hospital in the growing Burlington County community of Willingboro. The original Rancocas Valley Hospital opened in August 1961 and had 100 beds, operating suites, a maternity ward and emergency room. Eventually, the physicians’ group sold their interest in the hospital, all the while remaining as active members of the medical staff.
Over the years, the hospital underwent several changes in ownership and leadership. Willingboro was at risk of losing the hospital when its owner, the Allegheny Health, Education and Research Foundation declared bankruptcy in the late 1990s. Lourdes purchased the hospital in 1998 for $45 million.
Immediately after purchasing the facility, Lourdes invested $20 million in a new critical care building. The expansion, which includes six state-of-the-art operating suites, a same-day surgery center, a 12-bed recovery unit and an expanded 20-bed critical-care unit opened in May 2001. In December 2002, the hospital was renamed Lourdes Medical Center of Burlington County and became a Catholic hospital following a dedication and blessing by the Most Rev. John Smith, Bishop of the Diocese of Trenton.
In 2003, the medical center opened a new $1.5 million cardiac catheterization laboratory and a new magnetic resonance imaging center, expanding the hospital's diagnostic capabilities. In 2005, in conjunction with AcuityHealthcare of Charlotte, N.C., the facility opened Lourdes Specialty Hospital of Southern New Jersey, the region's first unit for long-term acute-care patients. [9]
The hospital has developed one of the region's leading cancer programs with a range of diagnostic and treatment services, in addition to a variety of community outreach and support initiatives. Those include a patient navigator program; opening a caring boutique to assist cancer patients from throughout Burlington County with their aesthetic, physical and emotional needs; developing a resource center; and expanding community lectures and support options.
