Health Care

Our primary thrust to evangelize was education, but it soon became obvious that health concerns were dire. So, in 1928 we began our health ministry in Southern Nigeria. There, health clinics developed into maternity centers, then expanded to hospitals and training schools for nurses. In Nigeria, between 1928 and 1967, Holy Rosary Sisters staffed and ran eight general hospitals and 38 rural maternity homes; two hospitals were training schools for nurses. Among the sisters, 10 were doctors, 34 were nurses and midwives, and two were tutors who trained nurses.

Today, these clinics and hospitals continue to flourish under the management of indigenous orders of sisters and local people. In northern Nigeria, Holy Rosary sisters manage two hospitals.

	Sisters Lucy O'Brien and Hilary Lyons celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of their graduation from medical school.  READ MORE... Pastoral Health Care in Ghana READ MORE... Tales from Sr. Eileen Keane, Cicetekelo Home, Zambia READ MORE... Mental Health Ministry in São Paulo, Brazil  READ MORE...

We continue medical ministry in other parts of Africa, for example:

In Cameroon, three Holy Rosary Sisters, Lucy Onwuka, Virginia Okeke, and Ann Fitzpatrick, run a maternity clinic, health center, and primary health care out reach program in Akum;

In Ghana, Sister Rose Farren is a medical doctor at St. Michael’s Hospital and coordinates a nutrition program;

In South Africa, Sister Mairin O’Keefe is a psychiatrist at a government hospital in Malamulele;

In Zambia, Sister Eileen Keane, a pioneer in hospice care, also coordinates care for people with HIV/AIDS; Sister Ellen Anderson was a surgeon at a mission hospital in Monze until May 2004;

In Kenya: Holy Rosary Sisters manage and run a hospital and training school in Ortum.

Holy Rosary Sisters have also expanded their medical ministry to the Americas:

• In Brazil, Sister Debby Farwell provides mental health services to empower low-income community members and improve the lives of HIV+ patients. Sister Mary Ryan, a nurse and midwife, visits the sick in their homes and provides training to pregnant women and caregivers.
  
  
• In Mexico, Sister Therese Egwonwu works in Mexico City with drug and alcohol addicts. Sister Noirin Walsh— with volunteer help from three medical doctors, a psychiatrist, and a dentist— coordinates a clinic for those who cannot afford medical treatment and runs a therapy group for abused women. The Holy Rosary Sisters have collaborated with others to provide a shelter for cancer and AIDS patients.

<BACK TO TOP>

HOME | Our Inspiration | Missions & Ministries | Our Community | Our Spirit | Justice & Peace | Help | Contact