Photo by Julianna Leopold

ATLANTA–Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv., celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving June 23 at Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital, to recognize a historic agreement between Emory Healthcare and the Archdiocese of Atlanta.

Emory Healthcare and the archdiocese announce the preservation of the Catholic identity and mission of Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital through a new sponsorship agreement. The agreement ensures that Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital will “continue to operate as a Catholic-sponsored institution—faithful to the mission of providing compassionate, clinically excellent care to all, especially the most vulnerable.”

Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital, Atlanta’s first hospital, was founded in 1880 by the Sisters of Mercy. For 145 years, the Sisters of Mercy and a dedicated health care team have faithfully stewarded the hospital community with grace, courage and unwavering commitment to healing. Although the sisters will be leaving the hospital, their apostolate in Atlanta will continue at Mercy Care.

“This sponsorship agreement signifies a commitment to maintain adherence to the ‘Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services,’ preserve strong chaplaincy services and spiritual care and continue community outreach that reflects the Gospel values on which the hospital was founded,” says Heather Dexter, president of the Emory Healthcare Regional Hospital Division, which includes Emory Saint Joseph’s. The hospital “will remain a place where science and spirit, and medicine and mercy, walk hand in hand.”

The “Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services,” a guide developed by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, reaffirms ethical standards of behavior in health care that flow from the church’s teaching on the dignity of the human person. The document also serves to provide authoritative guidance on certain moral issues facing Catholic health care.

Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv., blesses George Grant, executive director of Emory Spiritual Health, at a June 23 Mass to celebrate a new sponsorship agreement between Emory Healthcare and the Archdiocese of Atlanta. The agreement will help preserve the Catholic identity of Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital. Photo by Julianna Leopold

“The Archdiocese of Atlanta will be forever grateful to the Sisters of Mercy for their leadership and service. We are honored to be a part of the legacy they created when they founded St. Joseph’s hospital more than 100 years ago,” said Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv. “Emory Healthcare is a recognized community leader in healthcare, and I look forward to the positive impact this agreement will have on the community.”

Hospital administrators, staff and volunteers joined Sisters of Mercy Peggy Fannon and Jane Gerety, RSM, in the hospital’s auditorium for the mid-morning Mass. The hospital’s priest chaplain Father Patrick Scully, former chaplain Father Steve Yander and Father Gerardo Ceballos Gonzalez concelebrated the Mass.

“Within the walls of these hospitals, we encounter the lowly every day; people who are weighed down by suffering and illness, who often times are afraid or discouraged. We meet people who feel captive to their illness, confined by their diagnosis or prognosis. Some arrive here with broken hearts not knowing what the future holds,” said Archbishop Hartmayer during his homily.

Servants anointed by God come into these realities to heal, said the archbishop. They are the nurses who administer medications, the doctors who make careful decisions, the chaplains who offer prayer, as well as the families and patients who are examples of courage.

“The disciples were sent out to be close to the suffering and to show forth the compassion of Christ, just as you do within these walls every day,” Archbishop Hartmayer told those gathered.

Sister Jane Gerety, chief mission officer of Mercy Care, spoke after Mass to express gratitude for the archdiocese’s sponsorship, which is a “link to the church and its values; its values of the people, its values of going out to the vulnerable.” All of these things, said Sister Jane, are a response to Jesus’ command to love one another. “And that’s what the archdiocese is saying they will help us do.”

She posed the question about the new sponsorship, asking “Will it feel very different?” “My answer to that question is, ‘I don’t think so.'”

Sister Jane said the same spirit and culture brought by the Sisters of Mercy all those years ago is still very much alive.

“It is a matter of holding on to that tradition that has been here for so long. The Mercy identity is something that is quite specific and strong—compassionate health care to the whole person and welcoming the most vulnerable. The colleagues, the employees here, the leadership have taken that and said, ‘this is my life’s work.'”

The sponsorship ensures each decision is made through the lens of love and compassion, she noted. 

“When I look at Saint Joseph’s though, this notion of mercy is not something that is overlaid onto what we do; it is what we do,” said Sister Jane. 

Emory Saint Joseph’s is recognized as one of the top specialty-referral hospitals in the Southeast. As a leading academic and community hospital, the 410-bed adult acute-care facility cares for 126,000 outpatients and 17,500 inpatients annually. The hospital has been a Magnet-designated facility since 1995 in recognition of its nursing care. U.S. News and World Report ranked Emory Saint Joseph’s as the #2 hospital in Georgia and metro Atlanta for eight consecutive years. Physicians from around the world come there for training in robotic cardiothoracic surgery at the only American Heart Association Mitral Valve Reference Center in Georgia.