Catholic Health World - As Froedtert Holy Family Memorial Hospital marks its 125th anniversary, the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity are celebrating their continued involvement with the hospital they founded in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.
The congregation is based in the same city along Lake Michigan about 80 miles north of Milwaukee. Its members still serve as the hospital's sponsor and retain an ownership stake in the hospital.
"From the beginning, the sisters, as I understand the history, not only helped with and took on a debt for the hospital, when we had our own debt for building our own motherhouse, but also, for the first years, staffed everything, except the physicians," says Sr. Kay Klackner, vice president for mission for the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity Sponsored Ministries.
Since 2021, Holy Family Memorial Hospital has been part of the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin health network. Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity Sponsored Ministries oversees the Catholicity of the hospital along with that of five other facilities founded by the congregation in Wisconsin, Nebraska and Ohio.
The first addition to the hospital was dedicated in April 1929 and is still part of the campus of what is now Froedtert Holy Family Memorial Hospital.
The hospital created a video and booklet detailing its founding by the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity and its growth. Its anniversary events include historical displays the week of Sept. 23 and a Mass celebrated by Bishop David Ricken of the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin, in the hospital chapel on Sept. 28. The Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity will be part of those events, one of which includes historical reenactors.
The congregation founded Holy Family Hospital in 1899 at the request of community leaders in Manitowoc as the city's port and shipbuilding industries were beginning to thrive. In its first year, the 45-bed facility had 189 patients. Over its 125 years, as new wings and services have been added, the hospital has grown to a 350-bed facility. Its range of specialty services includes a cancer center, wellness center and sleep clinic. The name changed to Holy Family Memorial in the early 1990s.
Several Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity serve as "sisters of presence" in various volunteer roles at the hospital, including working in the coffee shop and comforting families in the surgery waiting room. "What's important to us as sponsors is to have presence in our institutions," Sr. Klackner says.
In addition to the working volunteers, each year the congregation designates a rotating group of sisters to be what Sr. Klackner calls "prayer champions" who offer prayers and sacrifices for the hospital.
The hospital created a video and booklet detailing its founding by the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity and its growth. Its anniversary events include historical displays the week of Sept. 23 and a Mass celebrated by Bishop David Ricken of the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin, in the hospital chapel on Sept. 28. The Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity will be part of those events, one of which includes historical reenactors.
The congregation founded Holy Family Hospital in 1899 at the request of community leaders in Manitowoc as the city's port and shipbuilding industries were beginning to thrive. In its first year, the 45-bed facility had 189 patients. Over its 125 years, as new wings and services have been added, the hospital has grown to a 350-bed facility. Its range of specialty services includes a cancer center, wellness center and sleep clinic. The name changed to Holy Family Memorial in the early 1990s.
Several Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity serve as "sisters of presence" in various volunteer roles at the hospital, including working in the coffee shop and comforting families in the surgery waiting room. "What's important to us as sponsors is to have presence in our institutions," Sr. Klackner says.
In addition to the working volunteers, each year the congregation designates a rotating group of sisters to be what Sr. Klackner calls "prayer champions" who offer prayers and sacrifices for the hospital.