Jessica Clayton (at left and at right with Rotarian of the day and Club President Koorosh Zahrai), Senior Development Officer with the Mercy Health Foundation was our guest speaker at the April 30th meeting.  She gave a brief history of Mercy, Sisters of Mercy, and then gave some figures of how Mercy Health has affected the medical community in the past few years and what is coming.

When a young Irish woman named Catherine McAuley received an unexpected inheritance, she gave thanks to God and her benefactor. Catherine used those funds to open the first house of Mercy, serving impoverished women and children in Dublin. Catherine founded the Sisters of Mercy, a new kind of religious community – one that lived outside cloistered walls. The sisters were known as the “walking Sisters” because of their willingness to go out and serve the community.

The Sisters of Mercy arrived in Oklahoma in 1884 and their mission continues today at Mercy Hospital Oklahoma City. The Sisters first purchased Oklahoma City General Hospital in downtown Oklahoma City in 1947. Thirty years later, the visionary Sisters moved Mercy to its current location along the John Kilpatrick Turnpike in thriving northwest Oklahoma City. Like the Sisters who pioneered health care in Oklahoma, Mercy remains forward-thinking and continues delivering exceptional and compassionate care to Oklahoma City.

Catherine’s legacy lives on through the generous gifts of donors like you. Gifts to Mercy Health Foundation Oklahoma City support critical projects in this community. That’s right. Every dollar you give advances health care right here at home. For more information, go to their website at http://mercyhealthfoundation.net/communities/oklahoma-city/