In the past year, with the help of consultants, we have studied ways of providing for our members’ health care services, especially for those who are retired.  We have sought solutions that are affordable and supportive of the values of our religious life. It has now become clear that we must phase out skilled care at both Oakwood, in Atherton, CA, and Kenwood, in Albany, NY, to avail ourselves of more affordable Catholic facilities in the Bay and Albany areas.  We are assured that our sisters will be able to be together in these new centers so as to continue living our religious life: community, prayer, long-term relationships with alumnae, family, friends and each other, and remaining in mission for life.

In addition, we have concluded that we must also phase out all health care and retirement at Kenwood because the facility, built as a school, is not suited to that use. This change comes at great cost to us. We have had a retirement community at Kenwood for more than 30 years, and many of our sisters have looked forward to spending the final years of their religious life in that setting so conducive to prayer. In the Albany area there is the promise of a Catholic assisted living facility with space in which our sisters in need of some healthcare may live in close proximity to a skilled care center where some of our sisters will also reside. Remaining in Albany allows friends and families to continue to visit and stay close to our sisters there.

Because Oakwood was built for retirement and healthcare, it continues to be suitable for assisted living. This, too, allows families and friends to stay in close contact with our sisters on the West Coast. Remaining on both coasts, we have concluded, has many advantages for the Province as a whole because our elders are a great source of encouragement and wisdom for the younger members engaged in active ministry throughout the country.  

Our hope is that there will also be other benefits to these moves including the formation of new relationships with lay residents and religious of other orders and the opportunity to share our life and faith in very simple, natural ways.

There are many details still to be worked out, but we anticipate these changes will take place over the next 6-18 months. The result will eventually reduce our healthcare deficit by almost one half in the next five years. During this period, we will be engaged in a concerted effort to raise funds to cover the balance and to free some resources for the Society’s many other ministries.

How I wish I could communicate these decisions personally and answer the many questions you may have, especially about some of the retired religious who are so dear to you.  We do promise a full article in the summer issue of Heart and hope also to share more information through the web and by other means.  We are most grateful for your friendship and support in the past and we count on your ongoing involvement with us in the years ahead.

In the Heart of Christ,

Kathleen Hughes, RSCJ
Provincial