WILMINGTON — Bishop John J. Monaghan dedicated St. Francis Hospital on Oct. 16, 1924, and for the past 100 years, and for the past century, it has been an institution to generations of residents of Wilmington and beyond.
The Diocese of Wilmington’s current ordinary, Bishop Koenig, traveled to St. Francis on Oct. 16 to commemorate the centennial anniversary with a Mass and tour of the hospital.
Inside the chapel on the fifth floor of the building atop the hill at Seventh and Clayton streets, the bishop said the anniversary was a way to celebrate what our faith tells us and to show the “compassion of Christ.” Among those in attendance were nearly two dozen Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, the religious congregation that staffed the hospital for much of its history. Former employees and graduates of the St. Francis School of Nursing also were on hand, as were some current employees and representatives of nearby Padua and Ursuline academies.
In his homily, Bishop Koenig said St. Francis Hospital has allowed people to thrive through its work over the past 100 years. God, he said, transforms our suffering into new life, “and that is really what we celebrate.”
Sometimes, he said, we believe that God intervenes on behalf of people who are in the hospital.
“But as we heard in today’s Gospel, Jesus walks with us,” he said.
God is there with people in need of healing, Bishop Koenig said.
According to the hospital, local Catholics contributed to the purchase of the land on which the hospital sits. The original building was demolished and rebuilt in 1975. It is currently owned by Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic.
Franciscan Sister Isabel Haughey worked at St. Francis for about 30 years beginning in 1970 as the nursing director and vice president and later as a chaplain. She said the hospital “is part of my heart. I love St. Francis. The spirit is wonderful. The administration was a whole group of men of integrity. I was the only woman, the only nurse and the only nun in a management team of eight.”
She recalled the late Sister Regina Lanahan, who spent four years as the administrator at St. Francis. According to Sister Isabel, there was an opportunity to move St. Francis out of the city, but Sister Regina decided along with her management team to stay.
“The reason was that we were Franciscans and we really wanted to serve the poor,” Sister Isabel said.
There are no Franciscan sisters currently on staff at the hospital, but Sister Patricia Hutchison is a member of the community advisory board, which studies issues such as quality, community health and others. She never worked at St. Francis, but she was born there, and her mother attended the St. Francis School of Nursing, which graduated 844 women in 52 years of operation. It closed in 1976.
Sister Patricia said she is prejudiced, but St. Francis means a great deal to her and to Wilmington and the surrounding area.
“My mother grew up at Fourth and Clayton, three blocks south. My father grew up at 10th and Dupont, three blocks north, so I’ve always seen the hospital as part of the Wilmington community, here to service the community, to reach out and respond to the changing needs of the community,” she said.
Sister Patricia noted the addition of the Healthy Village, an initiative that seeks to provide expanded clinical services and social services to patients and the community. That began in 2021.
The current director of nursing, Donna Casey, has been at the hospital for a year and has seen the importance of St. Francis for people who don’t have other options for healthcare. Many of them are battling homelessness, addiction and poverty.
“St. Francis serves such a need for our neighbors,” she said. “We have a very challenged community. We are here. We are their safety net.”
Casey has worked at several hospitals and was drawn to St. Francis by its mission.
“One of the things that’s so special about St. Francis is that this organization truly lives its mission and vision and values. There is such a strong commitment. You just don’t find that in most hospitals these days,” she said.
Franciscan Sister Mary Beth Antonelli was a nurse coordinator at St. Francis with the Tiny Steps program for a few years about 25 years ago, then returned as a chaplain from 2014-18. She said the hospital fits in well with the Franciscan charism. “Reaching out to those who are in need, certainly being of service to those in healthcare.”
The Franciscans, she noted, have a long history of working in the medical field.
“It’s almost like following Jesus’ lead as healer,” she said. “I always like to say we follow in Jesus’ servant leadership, washing the feet of people, both literally and figuratively.
“When I worked here, it was a blessing and a gift to work with so many people who are committed to being that healing and compassionate presence for so many here, especially in the Wilmington area.”
The congregation, which has served in healthcare since 1855 and was in residence at St. Francis when the first patients were admitted on Oct. 23, 1924, got as much back from the patients as they provided to them, Sister Mary Beth said.
“I feel that our lives have been enriched by the people that we serve here, as well as the staff,” she said. “The patients have been incredible in my experience. They, to me, speak volumes about God’s loving presence in their vulnerability, but also in what they have shared with me in their own faith life.”
