HOT SPRINGS — Throughout 61 years of religious life, Sister Dorothy Calhoun, RSM, has lived her vocation through Mercy hospitals. From her native New Orleans to less-exotic locales, she has performed various jobs according to the values of her order, including 21 years at Mercy Hospital Hot Springs where she officially served as Mercy minister until her retirement earlier this year.
Though technically retired, she remains a visible cornerstone of the Catholic ethos that provides aid and comfort to thousands of patients and their families and more than 2,100 employees; never more so than during recent negotiations to sell the hospital that would have stripped the institution of its Catholic identity.
“Hearing we would be sold to a for-profit health system was very painful,” she said. “The wonderful bond of faith and Mercy values we have here enabled people to lean on each other with concern and compassion when they would talk about their concerns for the future.”
“Naturally, a lot of people were fearful about job security. But many also said they were concerned that we wouldn’t be a faith-based hospital anymore.”
Last month, Mercy Health, owner of Mercy Hospital Hot Springs, and Tennessee-based Capella Healthcare, which owns National Park Medical Center, also in Hot Springs, announced they were discontinuing their controversial negotiations after 14 months. Officials said the deal fell through because lack of necessary approvals, including the Vatican’s, which is required in transactions involving property in excess of $5 million held by a religious order. Subsequent news reports also revealed the Federal Trade Commission had serious misgivings about the deal as it would have brought all health care facilities in Hot Springs under one corporate banner.
The objections over a secular, for-profit company taking over the 282-bed hospital and 80-physician clinic, as articulated by Bishop Anthony B. Taylor, included concerns over continued services to the poor and immigrant populations as well as the likelihood of sterilization and abortion services being performed there.
For hospital staff, the majority of whom are not Catholic, the June 27 announcement meant Mercy values would be preserved in day-to-day operations and the administration’s pledge to work with the bishop to plot the institution’s future was also welcome news.
“I would say the announcement that we were not merging has lightened the air quite a bit,” Sister Dorothy said. “I’m very hopeful for the future.”
Sister Teresa Kelone, a chaplain, is the only other Mercy sister currently assigned to the hospital.
Infusing Catholic ethics and Mercy charism into hospital operations isn’t something administrators leave to chance, even after 125 years in business. In fact, reminders of Mercy’s health-care-as-ministry attitude are visible and audible throughout daily operations from one-on-one encounters to around-the-clock access to the hospital chapel.
“There’s morning and evening prayer over the public address system in the hospital every day,” Sister Dorothy said. “It is not unusual for me to be walking down a hallway and a person will stop me and ask if I could please go visit a family member who isn’t doing well. Our nurses often pray with patients as well.
“So many times visitors tell us or write us that everyone here in the hospital is so caring. Being caring and compassionate is something we all strive for.”
Prospective employees don’t even get to their first interview without being analyzed for their potential fit within this environment, said Deacon Patrick McCruden, vice president of mission and ethics who also handles human relations duties. Five years ago, the hospital unveiled a pre-screening protocol that helps identify applicants’ predisposition to Mercy and Catholic values, regardless of their background.
The screening doesn’t ask an applicant’s religion — a violation of federal law — but asks if the applicant would be comfortable in an environment where staff meetings open with prayer, for instance.
“It sets the tone. It says this is what we stand for,” McCruden said. “What we do is no different than any other hospital but why we do it and how we do it should be different. It’s a ministry, an expression of love.”
All of the effort to reinforce these values has resulted in a depth of buy-in that can surprise even hospital administration. Shortly after negotiations began in 2012, McCruden decided to begin the removal of the many religious statues throughout the facility.
“At the time we did it, we wanted to make sure the statues were cataloged and stored safely,” he said. “Hindsight’s 20-20, but if I had it to do over again, I never would have had them taken down.”
The statues were returned to their original locations over the weekend of June 29.
While McCruden is quick to point out that no crucifixes were removed from patient rooms and the chapel’s five-day-a-week Mass schedule continued uninterrupted, the move proved an all-too-jarring look at the impending cultural change. Sister Dorothy also noticed the impact both of the statues’ removal and return on employees.
“I didn’t necessarily have an issue with it because I knew we had to catalog and store them, but when they came down, morale came down,” she said. “There was a lot of relief when the statues went back up.”
Mercy Health is still intent on selling the hospital to another health system but is also researching ways it would continue to own the hospital but operate it in a new way. CEO Lynn Britton said July 12, “The Mercy board and management team still believe the best outcome for the Hot Springs community is to have a single, unified health care provider.”
