Mission in Action 2016
Most of the stories in this edition of Mission in A ction pertain to activities that are outside
the scope of normal business operations and which provide assistance to the members of
our communities. As Catholic healthcare ministries it is important that we never lose sight
of our obligation to practice our values of service and stewardship not only for the benefit
of those in our care but also for our local communities. It is great to read stories about our
ministries, either on their own or in partnership with other local agencies or organizations,
providing services that help people in need or undertaking projects that improve the quality
of life in the community.
Jack Kennelly,
Vice President of Mission
St. Margaret’S HealtH Second
Floor Nursing staff hosts wedding
Kharyn Sommer is the afternoon, 24-hour Switchboard Operator at St. Margaret’s Health (SMH). Her father worked
in Security at SMH until his mother (Kharyn’s grandmother ) was admitted to the hospital for what was her final
illness. She was only in her sixties but was at the end of her life.
Kharyn was scheduled to be off work to get married on a Friday. As her grandmother’s condition deteriorated,
Kharyn decided to get married in the hospital on April 30 at her grandmother’s bedside.
A wedding is always a joyous event and the ladies on the St. Margaret’s unit who were caring for Kharyn’s
grandmother entered into the spirit of the occasion. They decorated the room, provided flowers, dressed Kharyn’s
grandmother in the dress she had purchased for the wedding. Melissa Acosta, CNA, provided her services as a
photographer to capture the event.
Kharyn was touched by the response of the hospital staff and let them know of her appreciation.
“She (grandma) is hanging on to see me get married. The staff has been amazing about making this
happen and it is making her so happy. … Some people are not close to their grandma but she is like a
second mother to me. This means so much to me. … The nurses are even decorating the room for us.
It’s amazing. … Grandma stayed awake for everything. It is the longest she has stayed awake since
her seizure (which brought her to the hospital by the way).
The following excerpts are taken from a letter from Kharyn’s family:
During her time at St. Margaret’s Hospital, she was taken care of as
if she were a family member to each of the nurses…. Hospital trays
with water, coffee and cookies were brought to our room and we
were always asked if we needed anything each time a nurse came to
check up on our mom.
St. Margaret’s Hospital and their second floor nursing staff gave our
mom the greatest gift and her last wish: the joy of seeing her oldest
granddaughter get married. On Friday, April 29, mom woke briefly
and softly asked, “How many hours?” Previously, she woke to ask if
she had missed the wedding. Now she was asking about hours….
Immediately upon hearing about the changed wedding plans to get
married in the hospital room the very next day, the nurses started
helping in every way they could. They even decorated the room and
dressed mom in the dress and hat that she had picked out for the
wedding about 3 weeks prior. One of the nurses offered to take pictures of the ceremony for us since she didn’t have to work at that
time and does photography too. Mom’s adrenaline must have kicked
into gear because she was alert and happy. She had a front and center view and even tried to give a soft
clap. After the ceremony, we asked her if she was happy and her reply was, “Happy, Happy.” It was her
last good day. Mom would have never made it to Kharyn and Ryan’s original wedding date of May 6 th.
The wedding was priceless to each one of us, especially mom, Kharyn and Ryan. Nothing could top this.
The letter contained sincere “thank you’s” to the doctors who answered all of their questions during an emotional
time; to the florist who stayed late and came in early to accommodate the last minute change of plans; to the tuxedo
rental business for offering a tux off the rack but later was able to provide the ordered tux that arrived 4 days early
(only two hours before the wedding) and to God “for making all of this work out in less than 24 hours!”
Presentation Medical Center
Presentation Clinic Cares Project Delivers Hope and Comfort.
Last fall, the Mission Integration Committee at Presentation Medical Center discovered a need with several of
the children that visited Presentation Clinic. Prompted by our mission, a plan for helping some of the area’s
children, the Presentation Clinic Cares Project was begun.
The program consists of providing eligible children with a backpack filled with hygiene and personal comfort
items, as well as a warm blanket. Sarah Gailfus, Presentation Clinic Coordinator, manages the project and
purchases the items needed for the backpacks. The blankets, generously provided by Project Linus (See the
story from St. Andrew’s) from Fargo, ND, are not only warm but also have fun themes for children. The providers in the clinic identify the children who are to receive the backpacks following their clinic appointment.
It has been a successful program for the children that are experiencing some needs in their daily lives as well
as an enjoyable project for the clinic employees. In addition to the outstanding partnership with the Linus
Project, the program is funded by the generous donations and fundraising by the employees of Presentation
Medical Center. One fundraising event is a take & bake pizza sale. PMC employees order and purchase the
pizzas and the Dietary Department assembles the ingredients for the sale. The sale has been a win/win with
the employees enjoying a quality pizza and the profits supporting the backpack project.
Sarah Gailfus, project coordinator, displays a backpack and contents
Rosewood on Broadway
St. Aloisius Medical Center
St. Aloisius Medical Center cooperates with local Kiwanis Club to support
community health with new playground equipment.
A joint grant application from St. Aloisius Medical Center and the local Kiwanis Club supported the
Kiwanis initiative to install state-of-the-art playground equipment in Harvey, ND. This joint effort
provides a future source of exercise and promotion of health for our community and is a win/win
situation for all. St. Aloisius’s daycare is located a short walking distance from the new playground and
the children were able to enjoy it this past fall before the snow flew as the Kiwanis group was able to
install ahead of schedule with a majority of the funds raised by October. “It is a great addition to the
Harvey community and Kiwanis is appreciative of the medical center’s support though the joint grant”,
said Sandy Teubner, Kiwanis President.
St. Aloisius employee praises handyman coworker.
Thank you so much to Mark Sommers for all his help! My scooter was not working last Tuesday and he came to
my rescue. He spent his lunch fixing it so I could come to work for my afternoon shift. I had to order a new joystick, which came in Friday. The temporary fix he figured out kept it working until the new joystick arrived. He
then came and hooked it up for me when the new one got here. Saying thank you just seems so inadequate.
Words will never express how much it means to me that you dropped what you were doing to come and help me
become mobile again. My scooter is my lifeline. It is my link to the outside world. Thanks for giving me back
my freedom!!! You are an angel in every sense of the word.
Ave Maria Village employees
Donate to project ignite light
In March 2016, Ave Maria Village’s Human Resource Committee encouraged all employees to
participate in a jeans week and also donate pajamas to Project Ignite Light throughout the
month.
It was called “PJ’s with a Purpose.” More than 600,000 children are seen every year for abuse
and neglect. Project Ignite Light’s goal is to equip each child who enters a hospital or advocacy
center to be seen for these reasons with a “bag of hope.” One item in the “bag of hope” is a
new pair of pajamas. Other items include tied blankets, shampoo, toothbrushes, books and
stuffed animals.
Ave Maria employees collected three boxes of pajamas and $235 from jeans week. It was
presented to Fran Geisler, a CNA at Ave Maria Village, who accepted in on behalf of Project
Ignite Light in April.
Fran Geiszler (seated center under the blanket) along with her husband (center right)
and daughter (right) along with two other supporters of Project Ignite Light.
St. andrew’S HealtH center
Stitches of Love
By Janel Agnes, Pastoral Care
St. Andrew’s Health Center
When it comes to crafting, it is often done with the intent of giving someone a birthday or Christmas gift
or just for the enjoyment of the crafter…a hobby. But when local crafting groups and St. Andrew’s past
and present employees were asked to consider helping with a ministry for the dying, they were eager to
have a spiritual purpose behind the work of their hands. Crafters who have skills in quilting, knitting, and
crocheting were asked to help with the Prayer Shawl Ministry at St. Andrew’s Health Center. The crafters are asked to be prayerful in the making of these 20” X 70” shawls. As loving hands stitch them together, loving hearts are asking God to bring comfort to the receivers of the shawls. Some suggested
prayers to be woven into these creations are as follows.
“Lord, bless my handiwork and let it be a work of heart, hands and
spirit.” “Lord, I also ask you to bless the one who will receive the fruit
of my prayer and the making of this blanket.” “May your grace, love
and healing presence be upon this blanket.” “Let this blanket bring
warmth and embrace the person receiving it with your love.” “Let
them find comfort in knowing that someone is praying for them.” “I
pray that this blanket will be a safe haven, a sacred place and that it
will bring this special person to a peaceful rest.”
Shawls woven in prayer will be presented to patients or residents of
St. Andrew’s as the need arises to bring comfort to them and their
families. A prayer is said at the time the shawl is presented asking
God for His grace for the patient and their family in the face of these
challenges. One such prayer is as follows.
Prayer of Comfort
Janel Agnes shows off the “Walking You
Home” pall along with some prayer shawls.
As you wrap yourself in this shawl of comfort, may you know that the one who made it has woven a
prayer for you in each stitch. May it be a source of comfort to you, especially during the times of
physical and mental pain, and in particular in times of uncertainty when facing the unknown. May
this prayer shawl give you warmth, bring you peace, and help you remember that you are never
alone. God’s blessings be upon you now and forever. AMEN.
The Prayer Shawl Ministry has been an ongoing tradition at St. Andrew’s that was started years ago by
the Sisters of Mary of the Presentation (SMP).
A new tradition is being started at St. Andrew’s with regard to the transport of the deceased body from
our facility. A local quilter made a 5’ X 10’ cover, called a “pall,” to place over the body bag as the
body is escorted by family and staff through our facility to the funeral home vehicle. This program is
known as the ‘Walking You Home Program’ in other SMP facilities.
St. Margaret’S HealtH deniM day
raises Over $20,000 in 2016
The Denim Day Committee was established as a mechanism to review requests for financial assistance for individuals in times of medical or financial crisis. The Denim Day Committee is happy to report in 2016,
$20,992.00 was raised, which dir ectly helps individuals, families and causes and have an impact to our
immediate local area. Congratulations to everyone who participates in the Denim Days.
The procedure for a Denim Day request is:
1. A request is submitted for review and approval by the Committee, then a Denim Day is scheduled and employees are notified that denim may be worn on the particular day for an individual or local/regional event.
2. Employees pay money in the form of cash or by utilizing payroll deduct (amount determined by employee
giving) in exchange for the employee being able to wear denim to work on the designated Denim Day.
3. The money raised is given as a check and presented to the recipient.
The Denim Day Committee meets monthly and is comprised of members of SMH including; Regina Adams,
Staff Education; Sue Briddick, Infection Control; Lisa Blackburn, Human Resources; Mary Mayerchin, Human
Resources; Deacon John Murphy, Pastoral Care; and Lori Ruppert, Dietary.
Generally, the criteria to qualify for this kind of assistance are as follows;
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The St. Margaret’s Hospital employee is on an approved FMLA leave for their own personal situation.
Typically, situations approved are for leaves that put the individual in a catastrophic situation such as an
illness or undue financial hardship.
The request may be submitted by a friend or co-worker. An employee cannot submit a request for their own
personal situation.
The committee will review all requests and will schedule Denim Days in the following order;
 SMH Employee
 SMH Employee’s family member
 SMH community member
 Local/Regional or National organizations
Once a Denim Day is scheduled, the date of the benefit is generally not changed. (For example, if a Denim
Day is scheduled for a regional organization and a request is received for a SMH employee, the SMH employee does not replace the already scheduled regional organization Denim Day.)
All individuals submitting requests will be contacted by a Committee member and updated about the status
of the request, including verification that the recipient is aware of the fundraiser.
Sheyenne Care Center
The Backpack program is designed to provide meals to underprivileged children on weekends and
holidays. The program started about 2 years ago when the Great Plains Food Pantry partnered with
local businesses and churches to provide a meal for children who do not have a parent or adult at
home to prepare one for them on weekends. The meals are in kid-friendly packages and consist of
cereals, soup, fruit and a snack for two days.
Eligible children from 5 years through 8th grade are identified through the school system. Permission
for a child to participate is obtained from parents by the school counselors. The program is sensitive
to protecting the identity of the participating students and respecting their privacy.
The Great Plains Food Pantry delivers the prepackaged meals once a month to a local church. Local
businesses and churches volunteer to pick up the meals each Thursday for a month and deliver them
to the schools. The meals are then slipped into the backpack of each participating child by a school
counselor or teacher.
Sheyenne Care Center participates in the program by having teams of 2-3 staff members deliver meals
to the schools each Thursday during the month of April. The first week also includes unloading the
monthly delivery at the receiving church.
Sheyenne Care Center Chaplain, Virginia Davy, says, “It is heartwarming to help these children and
to know that a child will not have to go without when paychecks do not reach to the end of the
month.”
The program coincided with the school year with 70 volunteers donating 160 hours of time to distribute the backpacks to the schools. In 2016, one hundred seventy children received help from this program. The average number of packs distributed per week was 145. There was a summer program but
those stats are not reflected here.