Threshold - Spring 2004

Care of the Sick: A Sacred Stewardship
Joan Offenburger, OSB

In every Benedictine house, care of the sick is a prime element of stewardship, and each house has its own way of enfleshing what St. Benedict calls for in Chapter 36 of the Rule of Benedict: ”Care of the sick must rank above and before all else, so that they may be truly served as Christ.”

Here in Atchison, this teaching of St. Benedict has been adopted as the mission statement for Dooley Center, the Mount’s health care facility. Every day the sisters and the lay staff see at the entrance of each infirmary wing a counted cross-stitch version of the words quoted above. In applying their mission, the staff have blended the spirit of Benedict’s Rule with their professional excellence in care of the sick to create an expression of the Rule lived. Something special has happened here.

Inspectors from the Kansas State Department of Aging have consistently placed Dooley Center among the top 10% of nursing homes in Kansas and honored it by naming it a “place of exceptional quality.” Several times, including each of the last two years, the state evaluation has said that health care in Dooley has “no deficiencies.” This past December prompted an unusual letter of commendation.
Dooley Center, named after the beloved Mother Lucy Dooley (prioress 1924-1950 ), has been licensed by the State of Kansas since 1993. While the Mount sisters have always cared for the sick as prescribed by the Rule, the number of those needing more and longer care increased, and the in-house supply of persons qualified to give care had to be supplemented. After much discussion and fact finding, presentations and help from consultants, the community agreed to apply for state licensing for the 50-bed facility.

What has licensing meant for residents and staff of Dooley, and for the rest of the sisters? Much of what licensure requires was, to a degree, already being done in one way or another. What licensing has made possible includes objective standards of evaluation for patient assessment and ongoing care, for stringent record-keeping, for staff job descriptions and staff performance, for life-safety provisions, for facility management and maintenance, for residents’ activity programs and therapy, and for life-long learning. Licensing has also made Dooley a recipient for Medicaid funding and for on-site visits by health professionals not on staff here. Qualified Mount staff, such as Sister Mary Teresa Morris, have taught classes so that health care workers could advance to the next level of offering care.

In the more than ten years that Dooley has been licensed, the sisters have come to understand better how state requirements have improved care. The staff have come to know and value Benedict’s concern for the sick. Willette Sinclair, nursing administrator, remarks that “a good nurse’s goals in patient care are really what the Rule says . . . Different words, maybe, but the same goal.”

Respect for the person is high on her list, as it is with Barb Stec, Dooley administrator. “The sisters are monastics, and wish to continue living that life insofar as they are able. Everything we do here is to help them achieve that.” The sisters pray Liturgy of the Hours and celebrate Eucharist in St. Lucy chapel. Father Regis Hickey, of St. Benedict’s Abbey, is chaplain. St. Lucy chapel and the dining room are shared by the whole Mount community; those needing special assistance in dining eat in a smaller space.

In planning for the future, Willette, Barb, and Elaine Fultz, RN, patient assessment coordinator, agree that they want to make Dooley more and more a patient-centered facility. Sister Marcia Ziska, pastoral care minister, has a particular responsibility for looking after residents’ spiritual needs and being liaison between Dooley and the community. Administrators keep track of new trends in nursing home care, and of changes in state and federal legislation that would apply to Dooley.

The Mount’s long range plan, Vision 2010, says, “Our facilities will support monastic living. They will be sized and planned to meet community needs and to reflect our commitment to ecology.” Contributions of many other staff contribute to making what goes on in Dooley Center congruent with the larger picture being designed in this strategic plan. Sister Mary Benedict Jacobs, housekeeping supervisor, and Sister Elaine Fischer, director of maintenance, direct their staffs to help achieve Dooley’s goals. Vicky Bosshammer is precise in keeping medical records. “If it isn’t recorded, it didn’t happen,” is something heard from many of the staff. Laurie Kloepper, ADC, is a certified activity director and is also social services designee. Sister Mary Grosdidier, office manager, cares for compensation and other work issues, and Pat Neumann, RN, interim director of nursing, sets the tone for cheerful generous service.

A revered custom of the house is presence to the dying. Day and night, sisters take turns sitting with a dying sister. While this presence is gift to the sister as she leaves this life, it is also a gift to those with her. As a sister mentioned, “Many of us have sat with persons who have mentored us in monastic life; they have shown us how to live and they show us how to die.”

Some members of the sisters’ immediate family have chosen to apply for residence in Dooley Center. When requirements are met and there is space, the monastic family and families of birth exist together in mutual benefit.

Staff, sisters, and residents have learned much over the years in their efforts to respect monastic values, observe health care regulations, and teach/learn appropriate responses in the care of the sick. Barb points out that “Dooley belongs to the sisters. This is their home.” Caring for that home according to the shared values of Benedict and of good health care has created stewardship of a high order. Residents agree. Before the last inspection, Sister Siena Rohlfer, who had recently moved to Dooley, announced that when interviewed she would tell the surveyors, “The only other move I’d want to make now is to heaven.”


Many Hands

Besides those involved in administration, the staff includes Sister Sylvia Kenkel and several lay charge nurses, certified nurse aides (CNAs), certified medication aides, certified restorative aides, activity aides and hospitality aides. Sisters Norma Honz, Mary Ethel Burley, Mary Cecile Ihle, and Loretta Wiesner help care for the clothing needs of the sisters. Sister Trinitas Miles coordinates transportation for medical appointments, and for those occasions several sisters are available to accompany them. Sister Mildred Vey is present for group recreation many afternoons and evenings. Sister Angela Ostermann, dietician, meets regularly with staff to design care plans. Sisters Brendan Fry, Bernadette Havlik, and Devota Klamet are sacristans, and many sisters play the organ or serve as prayer leaders.

At their regular meetings the Dooley Center board members maintain oversight and support. Sister Alberta Hermann chairs this group, which includes Barb Stec, ex officio; Sister Delores Wagner, secretary, and Sister Mary Collins and the monastic council. As community treasurer, Sister Rose Marie Stallbaumer incorporates the needs of Dooley with financial planning and budget development.

Some thirty sisters from the rest of the community currently serve as individual companions to Dooley residents. They assist their assigned sister by sharing time, presence, and other forms of support. It might be talking over community plans, reading aloud, helping with letter writing and phone calls, accompanying a sister to community functions or activities away from the Mount, or whatever extra assistance that sister might need. Staff and sisters agree that the companion sisters program has been a tremendous help.

Sister Mary Grosdidier, Dooley business manager, rolls along
with her Dooley resident companion, Sister Rosemary Quint.

Letter from the Kansas Department of Aging
January 15, 2004, letter to Dooley Center administrator Barbara Stec

A licensure and certification resurvey was completed for your facility on December 17, 2003. Your facility was found to be in full compliance with all licensure and certification requirements. In addition you have implemented quality care programs which have resulted in exemplary positive resident care and quality of life outcomes . . . This performance and your facility’s record of quality care and cooperation with the regulatory process justifies recognition by this Department. I commend you and your staff on enhancing the lives of your residents. A copy of this recognition letter has been provided to your local media to enable public recognition of the exemplary care your facility is providing residents.

Pamela Johnson-Betts, Secretary
Kansas Department on Aging