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By Rev. Steven M. Avella
A key element in the proclamation of the gospel in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee has been care for the sick, the dying, and the dislocated. Wherever there is a serious social need - poverty, hunger, lack of shelter, or illness - Catholics have stepped forward to help. In this they follow the teachings of Christ found in Matthew 25: 31-46. Jesus himself became poor and associated with the poor and outcast. The Church imitates Him.
In the United States, care for the poor is an important feature of most Catholic institutions including schools, parishes, and missions. In southeastern Wisconsin, the main vehicles for social provision are the Catholic health and child care institutions that were created to serve the poor.
Dependent children were a priority. High mortality rates, infectious diseases, and accidents sometimes left children orphaned or “half –orphaned.” Often when a mother died, a father would send the children to an orphanage. As with most charitable and educational ministries of the Church, efforts focused on dependent children were largely the province of religious orders of men and women.
Catholic institutions for dependent children evolved over time. In the 19th Century, asylums were the most common way of dealing with orphans, the mentally ill, and the disabled. It was believed that asylums offered a sheltered place where a person could be restored to equilibrium through a combination of peace, quiet, and healthy living. Asylums were also used for segregating and sheltering the poor. Cities and counties provided these institutions mostly on poor farms located outside the city.
Milwaukee Catholics used asylum/institutional methods and structures for early outreach to poor. The religious women who staffed these institutions offered group care, religious instruction, schooling, and education in gender-appropriate fields.
Early examples of these institutions include:
Even before the advent of modern scientific medicine, the Church sponsored institutions for the care of the sick and dying. Religious communities of men (Alexian Brothers and Camillans) offered these services, as did religious communities of women including the Sisters of Mercy and the Daughters of Charity. A great inspiration was St. Vincent de Paul.
An early form of health care in the archdiocese was home nursing provided by the Salvatorian Sisters and the Wheaton Franciscans.
Virtually every city in the archdiocese had a Catholic hospital, including:
Catholic health care stressed the importance of prayer and sacraments in the healing process. Hospitals had priest chaplains, chapels, crucifixes, and religious statuary. Many of the sisters were nurses and attended patients wearing their habits.
Hospital care changed over the years. Between 1870 and 1940, hospitals “shift from a place of charitable care to a modern technological machine for all patients.” (Barbara Mann Wall). Medical knowledge expanded and improved with the acceptance of bacteriology, antiseptic methods, and other medical advances including technologic innovations such as x-rays.
The American Medical Association, the American College of Surgeons and Physicians, and other professional societies improved standards for doctors and nurses. Changes in hospital architecture standards paved the way for new wards, more air and sunlight (solariums), nursing stations, laboratories, and educational facilities. Most hospitals expanded.
The Catholic Hospital Association (today the Catholic Health Association of the United States) was formed in 1915 and was first located in Milwaukee. It provided guidelines and encouragement for Catholic health care providers.
Schools of nursing were attached to major hospitals and nurse’s training became more rigorous and demanding.
The aftermath of World War II brought new pressures for additional changes in health care. Population shifts required new hospitals and care facilities in suburbs. Existing hospitals needed upgrading and expanding. There were efforts at national health insurance. Congress passed the Hill Burton Act in 1946, providing grants for hospital construction.
Kaiser Industries pioneered health care insurance as a job benefit. Private insurance companies, e.g., Blue Cross, also stepped forward to provide health insurance.
In 1965, Congress instituted Medicare and Medicaid, which provide money for health care for the elderly and the poor. Funding for these programs vary with political cycles. This new financing and federal government encouragement of consolidating health care institutions affected the landscape of Catholic health care.
To keep up with fast-paced changes in health care financing and the steep costs of new technology, health care institutions began to consolidate and then absorb rivals. Insurance companies played a big role in reshaping the kind of care patients received. New ways of “delivering” health care were devised. Catholic hospitals worked hard to maintain a sense of mission and their core health care values. Hospital systems now control many of the Catholic hospitals that were once independent institutions. Religious sisters who owned and operated some of these hospitals have withdrawn from them and turned over administration to lay boards. Some sites have closed altogether.
Direct aid to the poor through food, money, clothing, transportation, assistance with bills, and housing has always been an important part of the Catholic contribution to the common good. Catholic institutions committed to helping the poor include:
Thanks to improved health care and diet, many people live longer than in earlier generations. Following retirement, the death of a spouse, or the need for on-going care, many people transition out of family homes to smaller quarters in institutions. These institutions offer a spectrum of services including assisted living, memory care, full-time nursing, and hospice. Medicare, Medicaid, and personal savings help fund these operations.
Catholic institutions have kept up with this changing market. Although not operated directly by the Archdiocese, religious communities have stepped forward to provide these services. Some of these institutions provide skilled care for retired religious and archdiocesan priests. With the decline of religious staff and increasing costs, some of them have been absorbed by private businesses.
In the 20th and 21st centuries, economic realities and personal choice often require both parents work outside the home. In addition, the number of single-parent homes increased. A variety of parishes and some religious communities offer day-care services to parents.
