A couple of peeks at new course St. Francis Healthcare is taking
By Anna Weaver
Hawaii Catholic Herald
In a sign of the new direction St. Francis Healthcare System of Hawaii is taking, the chapel at its Ewa medical center on Oct. 4 was rededicated under a new name and blessed by Bishop Larry Silva. Afterward, the bishop headed to the far end of the Waianae coast to the Healthcare System’s newest project, Our Lady of Keaau, for a ceremony with a congregation of animals.
Oct. 4, of course, was the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, after whom the chapel at Francis Medical Center-West was newly christened, and the traditional day to bestow God’s blessing on all furry, four-legged and winged creatures.
An overflow assembly of more than 125 people attended the 10 a.m. Mass celebrated by Bishop Silva in the 1,000 square-foot chapel, which was refurbished for the occasion. After the liturgy, the bishop blessed the new name plaque at the chapel’s entrance. The chapel displayed a new carpet, a fresh coat of paint, and the repositioned life-size monkeypod statue of St. Francis by sculptor Fred H. Roster.
The renamed St. Francis of Assisi Chapel and the Mother Marianne Cope Chapel at St. Francis Medical Center in Liliha, which was rededicated last month, will be owned and maintained by the Sisters of Saint Francis as a way of keeping a Catholic presence at both hospitals after they are sold to Hawaii Medical Center.
As St. Francis Healthcare System exits its acute care facilities, it has been shifting its mission toward home care, hospice work and the retreat facilities and homeless outreach of its Our Lady of Keaau center.
The bishop enjoyed a post-Mass brunch of chocolate fondue, tortilla sandwich wraps and French toast casserole with the Sisters of Saint Francis, hospital employees, volunteers and friends in a hospital dining room with a spectacular view of the Ewa landscape.
He then drove 40 minutes west for his first visit to Our Lady of Keaau retreat center, where about 20 dogs, cats, and birds waited with their owners for his blessing. At a 1 p.m. ceremony enlivened by barks, chirps, meows and a few distance peacock calls, the bishop offered a brief homily on St. Francis’ special brotherhood with animals from behind a podium made of a bale of hay.
The bishop then sprinkled his curious critter attendees with holy water. Animal and human treats were served afterward, and a professional photographer snapped pet-and-owner portraits.
The bishop got his first chance to tour parts of the expansive 58-acre site, formerly a First Hawaiian Bank get-away, where wild turkeys and peacocks roam, and an Olympic-size swimming pool glistens temptingly.
Sister of St. Francis Beatrice Tom, former CEO of St. Francis Healthcare System, oversees Our Lady of Keaau, where groups can schedule conferences and spiritual retreats.
At the main “long house,” an industrial-size kitchen, recently approved by the Department of Health, is used to prepare and serve meals each week to the area’s homeless, as part of an outreach program Sister Bea has begun.
Among the many projects Sister Bea wants to start is making use of the site’s four imus (underground Hawaiian ovens) to kalua turkeys at Thanksgiving time, something the wild birds on the property should perhaps start worrying about.