Mission
Mission, lived and promoted at Saints Medical Center, portrays to the community the organizational identity of our Catholic healthcare facility and philosophy. It also inspires staff to strive toward the noblest potential of being human, fostering an environment of respect for the dignity of persons, equal regard, justice, and learning for growth and development. Mission lived well translates into customer service performed well.
Services
The rich heritage of Saints, under the sponsorship of the Sisters of Charity of Ottawa, dates back to the 1800’s. This “Entrusted Legacy” is faithfully handed on to all new employees and kept fresh in the minds and spirits of those who have been part of the Saints community. An interdepartmental Mission Committee dedicates its energies to reinvigorating and repositioning Mission as the centerpiece of all we do. In a unique way, Saints has come “full circle” in the heritage of its sponsors who came to Lowell and contributed to the building up of the community through healthcare and through education. Saints is proud to have added an educational component to its healthcare ministry in 2008, The Caring Well Institute, a center for learning and innovation in healthcare. Through the Institute, the mission of Saints is extended not only to patients and families, but to neighbors, professionals, and businesses throughout the region, by “changing lives and shaping futures.”
Spiritual Care
Saints is a faith based community that embraces the spiritual dimension of life and is committed to providing spiritual care to patients, families, caregivers and community. Chaplaincy services are available to all. Sacramental ministry is available around the clock. Off site overnight retreats for staff, “Caring for the Compassionate Soul,” are offered bi-annually. A new seven part program promoting a spiritual model of healthcare, “Values in Healthcare,” commences in 2009 and will continue throughout the year.
Prayers and Rituals
Saints has instituted daily Common Time, its spiritual “ID badge” and invitation to everyone on campus to join together in prayerful quiet in order to ground the self spiritually by listening to a reflection offered over our public address system in the morning and in the evening. It is also important to mark events with ritual and that is done on such occasions as World Day of Prayer for the Sick, our Fall Festival of Trees for the Cancer Center, the blessing of hands, distribution of ashes on Ash Wednesday, etc. Also, through the Leadership Training Program offered through The Caring Well Institute to all administrators, managers and directors, “Leading Well with Prayer” booklets are given to all management to encourage the practice of beginning meetings with prayer.
Sponsorship of Healthcare Ministries
The Sisters of Charity of Ottawa generously provided a grant of seed money for the founding of The Caring Well Institute. Their investment in this holistic educational model expands mission to even broader parameters.
Community Benefit and Care of Those Who are Poor
Care of the poor and protection of and advocacy on behalf of the vulnerable are central to the mission of Saints. With Lowell’s place in history as the seat of the Industrial Revolution, Saints can never forget its roots as a healing presence to the immigrant poor mill workers who labored to clothe a nation. Prevention clinics, health fairs, annual employee “Adopt-a-Family” programs that provide Christmas to needy families, are among the many charitable works performed by Saints Medical Center.
Global Health Ministry
Sharing our resources with other countries is an opportunity for Saints to help improve the delivery of healthcare around the world. Greatly needed supplies have been sent to Ghana from the Saints Family Birth Unit that closed. A sad moment in our own history here turned into a promising future for maternity needs half a world away. Also, through our relationship with our Cambodian brothers and sisters, Saints is looking to a new year of engagement in helping the community through the Cambodian Health Fair and to continued relationship with Angkor Hospital for Children in Siem Riep, Northern Cambodia. Additionally, The Children of Chernobyl Project provides medical care to children from Belarus, Russia, where the devastating nuclear accident occurred many years ago. Children from Chernobyl come as our guests at Saints Cancer Center, where they receive health screenings for the lingering effects of that nuclear disaster which still impact lives there. The early detection of cancer and other illnesses in these young bodies is a critical first step toward treatment, recovery, and a brighter future.
