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Honoring Sister Concetta
Sister Concetta Cardinale, director of the Mercy Compassionate Care program at Mercy Health Center, said she knew something was in the works for her 84th birthday celebration last week. However, she wasn't quite prepared for the surprise party Mercy employees threw for her in the McAuley Educational Center on Thursday.
"It was a total, absolute surprise," Sister Cardinale said.
Sister Cardinale, who joined the Mercy staff in Fort Scott in 1987, is well known around the community for the care she provides to several local residents. As director of the Mercy Compassionate Care program, Sister Cardinale makes many home visits to people needing nursing care but who do not qualify for reimbursable services.
Mercy Home Care staff member Becky Davied, along with her colleague Sandy Hayes, organized Sister Cardinale's birthday party. Davied said on Monday the party was Mercy's way of showing Sister Cardinale the appreciation she deserves.
"She does a lot for the Home Care staff," Davied said. "We wanted to show our support for her role here and how she's able to help a whole lot of people's lives."
Sister Cardinale said the biggest surprise of the party was that her sister Diane Healey, who lives in Kansas City, was able to attend. She added that she was also thrilled to get to see Healey's grandchildren, who are Sister Cardinale's nieces and nephews.
Sister Cardinale said the surprise party was "kind of embarrassing," but added that she was very grateful for the show of support from so many Mercy staff members.
"Mercy is my life," she said. "To have the reaction and the appreciation makes a big difference. And, of course, I love everyone there. At 84, I can say that I'm still proud to be a part of it."
Mercy Marketing and Development Director Carla Bryant Farmer said "entrepreneurial" is one of the best ways to describe Sister Cardinale, as she has been "an innovator of various programs in the communities in which she has served."
"We laugh here because we always say that no grass will ever grow under her feet," Farmer said, "because she's always moving. She's a very active lady. And even now on this 84th birthday, she's still looking for ways in which to reach out to the community."
Sister Cardinale said the best part about her position at Mercy is the freedom she is given with which to provide free nursing services to local residents.
"The Sisters of Mercy organization lets me offer people care in my own way," she said. "I am able to take care of people, not in buildings, but out in the community where they live."
Sister Cardinale is a member of the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce, secretary for the Network for Families Steering Committee, a Stephen Ministry leader and co-coordinator of the Mercy Associate Group. She has been a member of the Mercy Health Center Foundation Board of Trustees since its inception in 1988, according to the Mercy Health System of Kansas Web site.
Before joining the Mercy staff 20 years ago, Sister Cardinale taught community health nursing at the Wichita State University School of Nursing.
According to a biography she provided for a 2003 article in The Fort Scott Tribune, she attended the Mercy School of Nursing in Fort Scott in the mid-1940s before joining the Sisters of Mercy Convent in St. Louis, Mo.
After completing her novitiate training, she returned to Fort Scott, where she was assigned to various nursing supervisory positions at Mercy Hospital.
She received a bachelor's degree in nursing education from St. Mary's College in Xavier and continued her ministry in Mercy health care facilities in Kansas.
In 1969, she planned and developed the first hospital-based Medicare certified home care programs in the nation at St. Elizabeth hospital in Hutchinson. She earned a master's degree in public health administration with clinical emphasis in 1972 from the University of Maryland.