Prepared to Serve: University of Mary Fulfills Calling through COVID-19 Crisis
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BY RUTH WIECHMANN
OVID-19 has brought major changes to our families and communities. Markets are unstable. Basic supplies like toilet paper are not in stock at our stores. Sports events, from the NBA to grade school, have been cancelled. Worship services, weddings, funerals, birthday parties, jobs and education have all been affected by the drive for social distancing to slow the spread of the virus.
One thing that has not changed through all the uncertainty and upheaval is the mission of the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota, a mission focused on prayer, community and service. Benedictine Sisters who came to Dakota Territory in 1878 saw the need for quality healthcare in the remote, rural community and surrounding area; for over a century they have served a large area in these still-remote and largely agricultural communities in the Dakotas. In Bismarck, they founded the first hospital in Dakota Territory in 1885, treating such patients as Chief Sitting Bull, Teddy Roosevelt and Medora de Mores. St. Alexius Hospital was built at its present site in 1911 and a nursing school was founded in 1914 that eventually became part of Mary College, now the University of Mary. The sisters continue to play an integral part in serving the healthcare needs of the people in and around Bismarck through three hospitals, a nursing home and numerous clinics, and through the School of Health Sciences at the University of Mary.
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TRI-STATE LIVESTOCK NEWS
Ag Pride 2020
