Planning for the Future

By S. Joanne Burrows

The buildings at mount St. Joseph radiate a sense of solidity and immutability that belies the myriad of changes the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati and the campus have undergone since the property was purchased in 1869. The current campus evolved over many decades and has undergone repeated retooling and renovation as the congregation grew and needs changed.

A major addition to the mount came in 1947 when the Sisters of Charity broke ground for a sevenstory skilled nursing care facility. The congregation had grown to more than 1,300 members and the leadership Council desired to provide a facility to meet the needs of an increasing number of senior Sisters. At the time of its dedication in 1949, mother margaret Hall included 140 private rooms, a chapel, library, pharmacy, and community room.

mmH has continued to serve Sisters needing skilled nursing including memory care and Assisted living as well as respite care for Sisters recovering from short-term illnesses and surgeries for more than 70 years. Today, the Sisters of Charity number 201 Sisters with approximately 65 Sisters calling mmH home in nursing care and Assisted living.

mmH has been updated along the way to maintain the best services for Sister-residents. The most recent in 2003 was an extensive renovation of the skilled nursing and memory care areas. The facility was redesigned to meet medicaid standards, in the event the congregation should decide to seek certification in the future. Hallways were widened, rooms were enlarged, private ADA-compliant bathrooms added to each room and new plumbing, electrical and HVAC infrastructure throughout.

The Assisted living areas in the west wing of the building were renovated in 1991 to provide small two-room suites with private baths. The CoVID-19 pandemic brought to the fore a number of shortcomings with the Assisted living areas. Following listening sessions with the Sisters living in Al, the leadership Council and mmH administration team recognized the need for professional expertise to provide a holistic, comprehensive and inclusive planning and design process to enhance the Assisted living experience.

Hoffman Planning, Design and Construction Group has been engaged to assist the congregation with the process.

Hoffman Group, located in Appleton, Wisconsin, works with religious congregations to help them assess their facilities needs and plan for the future. This conceptual phase of the process will assess our facility and lifestyle needs and identify opportunities for creating a more inviting and comfortable Al space for us now as well as other uses in the future. This phase will be completed in may 2023.

The Hoffman Group team will be working closely with two groups throughout the process, the mmH Assisted living Planning Group and the mmH Assisted living Planning Resident Subcommittee (RSC). The RSC will provide input from the Sisters’ perspective to review as well as input on potential conceptual designs to Hoffman and the leadership Council. The mmH-Al Planning Group will determine the direction of the concepts developed based on insights from the RSC and make recommendations to the leadership Council.

Religious life is evolving and recreating itself in ways that move away from big structures and institutions. like most religious congregations today, we Sisters of Charity find ourselves with more “house” than we need to meet our shortand long-term future needs. This Al planning process, which seeks to align with our current and near future congregational realities, is just one aspect of a more comprehensive and ongoing conversation about the future of the motherhouse campus.