Founders’ Day celebrates the values and spirit at the heart of the hospital

At an annual Founders’ Day ceremony Oct. 29, current and past employees joined the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth to celebrate the 118-year history of the former Hospital of Saint Raphael.

“I hesitate on the word “former,” because there is nothing former or antiquated about the values, the spirit that the Sisters instilled in the very fabric of the hospital and its people,” Yale New Haven Hospital President Katherine Heilpern, MD, said at the event. “These live on today, evident in every compassionate interaction, every smile, every voiced concern for patients and families, bringing the best our healthcare system can give to each and every patient. These attributes make us better, too, as providers, colleagues and members of our more global community.”

Founders’ Day honors the legacy of caring of the Sisters of Charity, who founded the Hospital of Saint Raphael in 1907, sponsored it until its integration with YNHH in 2012, and remain committed to its mission and success.

This year’s ceremony held true to its theme, “Honoring the Past, Inspiring the Future,” with Christopher O’Connor, Yale New Haven Health CEO, emphasizing the impact the Sisters of Charity and the hospital have had – and continue to have – on the community.

Employees from many different roles and departments joined Sisters and hospital and health system leaders to read reflections and prayers during the ceremony, including this quote, from an unknown author, “And now, we stand at the edge of tomorrow, hands open to shape what will be. We are dreamers who build, builders who hope, and hopers who act.”