SMP Health System renames local hospitals

If you live in one of the communities that have one of the health care ministries of SMP Health System, you may have noticed a recent change. On Oct. 1, the Sisters of Mary of the Presentation Health System (SMP Health System) and their North Dakota hospitals and long-term care ministries changed their names. According to Aaron K. Alton, President and CEO, “the name changes are part of a rebranding effort for our system to emphasize its Catholic identity and raise awareness of our unity as a health care system.” He further explained that “the new names continue to reflect our source and spirit in the Sisters of Mary of the Presentation, who established their first hospital in North Dakota in Bottineau in 1913.” Alton also noted that, “the changes to our names do not represent any kind of change in operations or ownership.”

SMP Health System is now “SMP Health.” It is a Catholic health care system with ten health care ministries located in North Dakota and Illinois with its central office in Fargo. It operates the following hospitals and long-term care ministries in North Dakota:

 
Former name                                      New name                                           Location

St. Aloisius Medical Center                  SMP Health – St. Aloisius                      Harvey
St. Andrew’s Health Center                 SMP Health – St. Andrew’s                   Bottineau
Presentation Medical Center              SMP Health – St. Kateri                         Rolla
Ave Maria Village                                  SMP Health – Ave Maria                        Jamestown
Sheyenne Care Center                         SMP Health – St. Raphael                    Valley City
Maryhill Manor                                      SMP Health – Maryhill                          Enderlin
Rosewood on Broadway                       SMP Health – St. Catherine North      Fargo
Villa Maria                                              SMP Health – St. Catherine South       Fargo
           
J.T. Kennelly, Vice President of Mission and Formation, explains that three of the ministries of SMP Health will be under the patronage of saints whose names they have adopted as part of the rebranding effort.

Presentation Medical Center, Rolla, is now “SMP Health – St. Kateri.” St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the “Lily of the Mohawks,” was a Native American girl who lived in the second half of the 17th century in what is presently New York State. As a young child, her family was killed by smallpox, an illness which also left St. Kateri covered in unsightly scars. She was adopted by her aunt and uncle. As a teenager she showed no interest in marriage. At 19, St. Kateri was baptized into the Catholic faith with the help of a Jesuit missionary.

As a Christian, St. Kateri took a vow of chastity, which led to oppression from her Mohawk tribe. She fled her tribe and joined a native community of Christian converts where she offered fasts, penances, and mortifications for forgiveness and conversion of her Mohawk people. St. Kateri died at the age of 24. It is reported that after her death, her scars disappeared and her skin became radiantly beautiful. She was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012 and is currently the only Native American saint.

Sheyenne Care Center, Valley City, is now “SMP Health – St. Raphael.” St. Raphael, literally translated “God Heals,” is one of the three Archangels mentioned in the Scriptures, being a major character in the book of Tobit. Among his many patronages, he is the patron saint of bodily ills, nurses, physicians, and medical workers, making him a fitting patron saint for a health care ministry. In fact, Sheyenne Care Center chose him as its patron saint when it joined SMP Health System in 2002. It later named its chapel in his honor, making it appropriate that he should be chosen as the new namesake for the ministry.

The long-term care ministries of SMP Health in Fargo—Rosewood on Broadway and Villa Maria—are unified under the patronage of St. Catherine Labouré with the names “SMP Health – St. Catherine North” and “SMP Health – St. Catherine South.”

St. Catherine Labouré was a 19th century French mystic and religious sister. She was a member of the Daughters of Charity, a religious order begun by St. Vincent de Paul—the second patron saint of the Sisters of Mary of the Presentation. St. Catherine received visions of St. Vincent, as well as of the Blessed Virgin Mary who gave her the miraculous medal whose devotion has spread throughout the world. St. Catherine spent the majority of her religious life caring for the sick and elderly for whom she is a patron saint. St. Catherine Labouré is a fitting patron for our two Fargo long-term care ministries.

In central Illinois SMP Health operates a regional network, St. Margaret’s Health, comprised of two hospitals, St. Margaret’s Health—Spring Valley, and St. Margaret’s Health—Peru, and Prairieland Home Care agency, in Spring Valley.