St. Joseph's/Candler Health System in Savannah, Georgia, recently commemorated the 150th anniversary of the founding of its St. Joseph's Hospital with an employee gathering, Mass, celebratory meal and other events.
At the staff celebration on the June 30 official anniversary date, employees received a commemorative glass teacup to bring to mind the call by Catherine McAuley to her fellow sisters to provide a good cup of tea to comfort anyone in need. Nuns from the Sisters of Mercy congregation that Venerable McAuley established were the foundresses of St. Joseph's. The Mass that took place a couple of days before the employee event was concelebrated by Bishop of Savannah Stephen D. Parkes and priests from throughout the diocese. After the Mass, the hospital hosted a meal for all attendees. The hospital also hosted a luncheon for the Sisters of Mercy.
During a press conference St. Joseph's/ Candler held amid the celebrating, President and CEO Paul Hinchey credited the "extraordinary" legacy of St. Joseph's to the sisters whose "commitment to this community, and their bold vision for the future … brought us to this moment." He also thanked employees, physicians and community leaders for their significant contributions to the hospital's success.
St. Joseph's traces its start to 1875, when Fr. Jeremiah Francis O'Neill asked six Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Mercy, a congregation that was part of the Sisters of Mercy, to take over operations of a Savannah sailor's hospital called Forest City Marine Hospital. Those sisters had been serving as educators at a private Catholic school and orphanage in Savannah. The women took over operations of the struggling hospital and a year later moved the facility to a shuttered medical college, renaming it St. Joseph's Infirmary. That summer, the sisters helped save many patients from the yellow fever epidemic.
In 1901, the facility got a new name: St. Joseph's Hospital.
In 1997, St. Joseph's Hospital and Candler Hospital of Savannah entered into a joint operating agreement to form the St. Joseph's/Candler system.
Over the years, the St. Joseph's facility has grown into a 330-bed hospital, renovated and added outpatient sites.
