[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 41 (Thursday, April 2, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E572-E573]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   MERCY HOSPITAL's 100TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. PAUL E. KANJORSKI

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 1, 1998

  Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Mercy 
Hospital in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Mercy is celebrating its 
centennial with a mass and a reception on April 19, 1998. I am proud to 
have been asked to participate in this milestone event.
  Founded by Mother Catherine McAuley in Ireland in 1831, the Sisters 
of Mercy nursed the poor in Irish slums plagued by cholera. They 
marched with Florence Nightingale to Crimea and to Constantinople to 
tend to the

[[Page E573]]

wounded. In America, the Sisters served in the Civil War nursing 
wounded on both sides of the conflict.
  In March 1898, the six original Sisters of Mercy, or the ``Hospital 
Sisters'' as they were known, opened the doors of the original Mercy 
Hospital, in the former Haines House on Hanover Street in Wilkes-Barre. 
Before the end of that summer, the hospital provided care for seventeen 
wounded veterans of the Spanish-American War.
  The Mercy Hospital in Wilkes-Barre flourished immediately, tending to 
the region's injured coal miners. Donations to support their effort 
poured in; wealthy individuals donated fuel and money and the poor 
shared their food with the Sisters. Only the coal companies failed to 
offer support, refusing to even offer a discount on coal for heat.
  Mr. Speaker, over the last hundred years Mercy Hospital has suffered 
the wrath of nature several times. In the Flood of 1936, the Hospital 
was almost destroyed. Again in 1972, when Hurricane Agnes caused the 
Susquehanna River to inundate the Wyoming Valley, the hospital 
sustained six million dollars of damage. In 1996, the hospital was 
forced to evacuate once again as the Susquehanna reached flood stage.
  Undaunted by economic hard times, changes in health care, nature's 
wrath, and the staggering growth in new technology, Mercy Hospital has 
not only survived but grown into a state-of-the-art facility. Expanding 
and providing services that no other local health facility has 
undertaken. From the McAuley House, a shelter for women and children, 
to a special and innovative clinic for expectant mothers, Mercy 
Hospital has contributed to the community for 100 years. The state-of-
the-art hospital of today owes its success to the vision and 
perseverance of a handful of dedicated Sisters.
  I am extremely pleased to join with the community in thanking Mercy 
Hospital for its dedication and service and send my very best wishes 
for continued prosperity.

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