October 14, 2010 - WestchesterGuardian.com

The Westchester Guardian THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2010
Page 15
PEOPLE
Sisters of Charity Given Special Tribute for Two Centuries of
Caring for New Yorkers
New York, NY -- The United
Hospital Fund honored the Sisters of
Charity of New York, with its Special
Tribute, at its annual black-tie gala, held
on Monday, October 4. The Sisters of
Charity were recognized for 200 years
of serving needy New Yorkers through a
comprehensive network of social services,
education, advocacy, and health care
institutions.
In 1817, three Sisters of Charity
were sent to New York City to staff an
orphanage, the beginning of the congregation’s
caring for New Yorkers. That was
the first of a number of orphanages and
child care agencies that the Sisters created
to meet the needs of a growing population
of poor orphans. They also established
schools and academies, building the
foundation of New York’s parochial
school system and, in 1847, founding
what would later become the College of
Mount St. Vincent. Above all, from their
earliest days, the Sisters of Charity played
a central role in meeting the health care
needs of New York’s poor.
It was the cholera epidemic of 1849
that impelled the Sisters of Charity to
open St. Vincent’s Hospital in Manhattan,
the first Catholic hospital in New York
City. St. Vincent’s went on to provide
innovative care for all who came through
its doors for more than 160 years. One of
the first hospitals to open a nursing school
certified by the State Board of Regents,
and one of the earliest responders to
the AIDS epidemic, St. Vincent’s also
became a major provider of services to the
homeless and the mentally ill. It was not
the Sisters’ only institution to reach out
to New Yorkers. Whenever there was a
need—whether to treat smallpox, tuberculosis,
or other once-rampant infectious
diseases, or to care for returning Civil
War soldiers—the Sistersof Charity
responded, over time founding or administering
thirteen hospitals throughout the
greater New York area.
Today the Sisters of Charity continue
to play a critical role in New York’s health
care and social services, sponsoring
Kenneth Raske (recipient of the Health Care Leadership Award), James Tallon (President of United
Hospital Fund), Sister Dorothy Metz (who accepted the Special Tribute on behalf of the Sisters of
Charity) , J. Barclay Collins II (Chairman of United Hospital Fund), Paula L. and Leon Root, MD
(recipients of the Distinguished Community Service Award), and Edward Van Dolsen (of TIAA-
CREF, which underwrites the Distinguished Community Service Award, which he presented).
(L-R): J. Barclay Collins II, chairman
of United Hospital Fund, Sister Dorothy
(with the award), and James Tallon,
president of United hospital Fund.
important health care facilities and
agencies: St. Joseph’s Medical Center
in Yonkers, an acute care hospital and
nursing home; St. Vincent’s Hospital
Westchester, providing mental health and
addiction recovery services; the New York
Foundling, with a range of supportive and
preventive services for at-risk children and
their families; and the Elizabeth Seton
(L-R): Sister Connie Brennan, Sister
Jane Iannucelli, and Sister Dorothy Metz
joined by two United Hospital Fund
board members, the Most Rev. Joseph
M. Sullivan and Mary Schachne.
Pediatric Center, offering nursing care
and rehabilitation for medically fragile
children. The Sisters and their growing
network of lay collaborators also serve as
doctors, nurses, therapists, and chaplains
at health care facilities throughout the
metropolitan area, and provide counseling
in parish offices, social service agencies,
and other community settings.
“The New York metropolitan area
is known for being dynamic and everchanging,
but one of the few constants
over the past two centuries has been the
caring provided by the Sisters of Charity,”
said James R. Tallon, Jr., president of the
Sister Dorothy, having accepted the award,
addressing the crowd of nearly 800 in the
Waldorf-Astoria’s Grand Ballroom.
United Hospital Fund. “Their contributions
are so omnipresent, it can be easy
to take the Sisters of Charity for granted.
But we shouldn’t. Their contributions to
the lives of New Yorkers are profound,
and we are pleased to have the opportunity,
through our Special Tribute, to share
some of their history of dedication and
service.”
At the Gala, Sister Dorothy Metz,
president of the Sisters of Charity of New
York, accepted the tribute.
The Fund also honored Kenneth
E. Raske with the Fund’s Health Care
Leadership Award. And it recognized
Paula L. and Leon Root, MD, with
its Distinguished Community Service
Award, an award underwritten by TIAA-
CREF, the leading provider of retirement
services in the medical, academic, research,
and cultural fields.
The gala was held at the Waldorf-
Astoria Hotel. The event marks the
opening of the Fund’s 132nd fund-raising
campaign to support the Fund’s work to
shape positive change in health care in
New York.
The benefit chairman was J. Barclay
Collins II, who is also chairman of the
United Hospital Fund.
The United Hospital Fund is a health
services research and philanthropic organization
whose mission is to shape positive
change in health care for the people of New
York. For more information, visit www.
uhfnyc.org.