To view an overview of the Providence Adult Day Health program click here (PowerPoint presentation).
PADH is part of a continuum of care known as Providence Health Care (PHC), which includes a network of 12 integrated ministries in Eastern Washington. All PHC ministries are governed by a local Board of Directors representing the interests of the community. PHC ministries include:
• Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center & Children’s Hospital
• Providence Holy Family Hospital
• Providence VNA Home Health Care Services
• Providence St. Joseph Care Center & Transitional Care Unit
• Providence Emilie Court Assisted Living
• Providence Adult Day Health
• Providence Associates Medical Laboratories (PAML)
• Providence Physician Services
• Providence St. Joseph’s Hospital, Chewelah
• Providence DominiCare (in-home personal care), Chewelah
• Providence Mount Carmel Hospital, Colville
Providence Adult Day Health and PHC are also part of the larger Providence Health & Services (PH&S), which are all sponsored by the Sisters of Providence. PH&S employs 45,000 people who serve communities in Alaska, Washington, Montana, Oregon and California. Providence Health & Services includes 26 hospitals, more than 35 non-acute facilities, home health, long term care, adult day health, physician clinics, a health plan, a liberal arts university, a high school, childcare and housing. For more information about PH&S, click here.
PADH & Providence Heritage
Providence Health & Services is built on a foundation of more than 150 years of caring by the Sisters of Providence, who left Montreal for the Pacific Northwest in 1856. The example of compassionate service set by the Sisters of Providence enriches our heritage and guides our future.
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| Mother Joseph |
Mother Joseph of the Sacred Heart
Pioneer Sister of Providence in the Pacific Northwest
In 1843, at the age of 20, Sister Joseph dedicated herself to the religious life of the newly formed order of the Sisters of Providence. At the age of 33, she was chosen to lead the first four Providence Sisters from Montreal to Fort Vancouver in the Washington Territory in 1856.
Mother Joseph served the people of the Northwest for 45 years, establishing 29 hospitals (including Sacred Heart Medical Center), schools, orphanages, homes for the aged, shelters for the mentally ill and Indian schools, with a particular emphasis on care of the poor. Mother Joseph died on January 19, at the Providence Academy in Vancouver, Washington at the age of 76, after a short struggle with cancer.
Known as a builder and architect, Mother Joseph and the Sisters set out on horseback on extended "begging tours" to the mining camps of Idaho, the Blue Mountains of Eastern Washington, Montana's Alder Gulch and the Caribou Mines of Western Canada in order to build the ministries necessary to provide for the health care, education and social service needs of the Northwestern and coastal regions of the United States and Canada.
In May 1980, a bronze statue of Mother Joseph was installed in the National Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C. Mother Joseph became the first nun and the fifth woman to be honored in the hall as "a great American." A copy of the statue can be found in the lobby of Sacred Heart Medical Center. There is also a statue of Mother Joseph depicting her role as “builder of hospitals” alongside the Centennial Trail (near Shenanigans Restaurant), the original location of Sacred Heart Medical Center.
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| Portrait of Mother Emilie Gamelin hangs in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican during Beatification ceremonies in 2002 |
Mother Emilie Gamelin, 1800-1851
Foundress of the Sisters of Providence
The Sisters of Providence were founded in Montreal by Mother Emilie Gamelin. She was born Emilie Tavernier in Montreal, Canada, which was then a small town. She experienced loss at the young age of four when her mother died. Her father had to move around in search of work, so she was sent to live with a nearby aunt, uncle and cousins. When she was 14, Emilie’s father died. Despite her own sorrows, Emilie reached out to help others, visiting the poor and helping to provide for their needs. At the age of 23, Emilie married a trademan 27 years her senior named Jean-Baptiste Gamelin. They had three sons, two of whom died in infancy. In 1827, Emilie's husband died, followed a few months later by her last living child.
In her sorrow, Emilie often prayed before a picture of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Seven Sorrows. She devoted herself to works of charity, joining the Ladies of Charity to provide food and clothing to the poor. Emilie’s early works are linked to our present home health ministry; she visited the poor in their homes, as well as elderly ladies who could not live alone without help or support. She even took some of them into her own home to be fed and taken care of. She began acquiring houses to care for more of the ill and elderly women. She also began visiting prisoners, bringing them food and hope; and she became known as “the Angel of political prisoners.”
The Bishop of Montreal, Ignace Bourget, officially recognized her work and asked her to help him establish a religious order of women. In 1843 seven young women were received as Daughters of Charity, Servants of the Poor. Emilie was not included among the original seven sisters, as religious leaders did not believe she had the vocation to be a Sister. She later convinced Bishop Bourget of the authenticity of her call to serve and on October 8, 1943, she became Sister Gamelin. She was then elected as the first superior of the new order.
Under the leadership of Mother Gamelin, the Sisters' works of charity expanded rapidly. They established orphanages, schools, hospices, a school for the deaf and homes for the mentally ill. They also cared for the ill, including nursing the victims of a typhus epidemic. Because of their profound trust that the Providence of God would supply the needs of those they served, the Sisters became known as Sisters of Providence, a name they officially adopted. Mother Gamelin died at the age of 51 during a cholera outbreak in Montreal. Proceedings are underway that may lead to the sainthood of Mother Gamelin. On October 7, 2001 Mother Gamelin was beatified and is now known as Blessed Mother Gamelin.
For more information, go to the Sisters of Providence Web site
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