Spirituality
The mission of Holy Cross Hospital, a member of Catholic Health East and sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy, is to serve the healthcare needs of persons of all faiths and cultures by providing quality health care with Christ-like compassion. We uphold the ethical and moral teachings of the Catholic Church in all policies and practices and are committed to a culture of inclusion in which all people are welcomed, valued, and celebrated. The Institute for Spiritual Development allows our core values to be espoused by our associates and community.
Spirituality Campaigns
Catherine Mcauley Fund
Continuing the tradition of caring for the poor, this fund subsidizes hospital employees who, even though they are employed, are still unable to meet their obligations in this difficult economy.
Healing Touch
Healing Touch is an energy therapy that uses gentle hand techniques thought to help re-pattern the patient’s energy field and accelerate healing of the body, mind, and spirit.
Chapel Fund
Help support the operations of our on-site Chapel with daily masses that tend to the spiritual needs of our patients and community.
Palliative Care & Schwartz Center Rounds
Our important Palliative Care program helps improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing life-threatening illness. The Schwartz Center Rounds offers a unique forum to explore and process the non-medical dimensions of patient care including joy, sorrow, moments of transcendence and the stresses of daily life.
Charity Care
Thanks to our sponsors, the Sisters of Mercy, Holy Cross Hospital will treat every patient regardless of their ability to pay. Our charity care program allows us to treat patients who could otherwise not afford their necessary healthcare. In 2010, Holy Cross devoted $15.4 million to social accountability and community benefit, and the hospital has budgeted $16.9 million in 2011 for community care. With your support, we can continue to care for these under or uninsured local patients and make an impact in their lives.
The Legacy Institute
The twenty-first century has presented faith-based organizations of all kinds with some new and unfamiliar challenges. For Catholic organizations – agencies, schools and hospitals – perhaps the most daunting is the gradual disappearance of religious women from institutional life. The typical American Sister is nearly 70 years old. Retirement is imminent for most. At the same time, fewer and fewer women are pursuing religious vocations. A slow but steady “cycle of secularization” is at work as faith-based organizations are entrusted to lay people – or in some cases, closed altogether. Preserving their unique Christian character is becoming an increasingly high priority. The Holy Cross Hospital Legacy Institute is a two-year ministry formation program designed specifically to address this challenge in a hospital setting. Its purpose is to train lay associates from any denomination as Legacy Leaders – leaders capable of embracing and articulating the Catholic heritage and the Mercy charism. For Holy Cross, ensuring that our Core Values remain at the heart of everything we do is the Institute’s on-going charge. “I knew that being selected to participate in the Legacy Institute was a special gift from Holy Cross Hospital,” says Nancy Reierson, a Legacy Institute graduate. “But I had no idea of the impact it would have on my life. The experience helped me identify the gifts that God has given me and showed me ways to use those gifts to help others.”
Workplace Spirituality
Sister Claudia Steger and Sister Margaret Crowley coordinate different programs promoting workplace spirituality as part of our Core Values and sponsorship by the Sisters of Mercy. You can help fund a series of educational programs including: a Spirituality Series for pastors, chaplains and associates; services for special occasions and seasonal observances and interfaith observances; the Compassion Wall where examples of compassionate and caring associates are celebrated; a Prayer Series; informative seminars and workshops; and a compassion fatigue series for caregivers. These programs help Holy Cross Hospital associates continue the compassionate, quality care given to our patients.