Diocese assumes sponsorship of St. Clare's Hospital

In what one spokesperson called an effort to "strengthen their healing ministry," St. Clare's Hospital in Schenectady has transferred its sponsorship solely to the Albany Diocese and become affiliated with the Carondelet Health System.

The hospital, which opened in 1949, had formerly been co-sponsored by the Diocese and the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor. Sponsorship means that the Diocese is "ultimately responsible for [the hospital's] continued existence," said St. Clare's corporate communications director Ceil Mack.

St. Clare's was originally founded by the Diocese, Ms. Mack explained, but the Franciscan Sisters were brought in to administer the hospital until 1968, when its first lay administrator was hired. Since then, the hospital has had a "loose relationship" with the order, whose motherhouse is downstate. The sisters came into the Diocese only for board meetings.

The hospital's new affiliation with the Carondelet Health System, which also sponsors St. Mary's Hospital in Amsterdam, came about because "we were encouraged by the Bishop to form a relationship with a system where we could be part of the `bigger picture,'" said Ms. Mack.

The affiliation is the first step toward membership in the nationwide health system and will give St. Clare's the opportunity to decide whether to pursue formal membership. In the meantime, the hospital and health system can "access each other's areas of expertise," Ms. Mack said.

Sister Jeanne Glisky, SFP, president of the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor, stated that "the healing mission of Catholic health care will continue, and the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor are grateful for having had the opportunity to serve in the Diocese."

A permanent tribute to the order of women religious, possibly in the form of a statue in the hospital's meditation garden, will be unveiled at a dedication ceremony at a later date.

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