January 22, 2009/- The Catholic Archdiocese of Kingston is making a $200,000 donation to support the redevelopment of Hotel Dieu Hospital and Providence Care – two institutions with proud Catholic traditions of serving the sick and needy in our community.

The gift, made to the University Hospitals Kingston Foundation, will be included in the $70 million Together We Can fundraising campaign. The campaign has so far raised $57 million.

“We welcome this renewal of the long and proud relationship between the Archdiocese of Kingston and Hotel Dieu Hospital and Providence Care. For more than 160 years, the Catholic community has helped to build and maintain these two great institutions, and now with this gift, they are again helping our hospitals grow to serve the needs of the community,” said Ian Wilson, Chair of the Together We Can campaign.

The involvement of the Roman Catholic Church with Hotel Dieu Hospital and Providence Care goes back to the mid-1800s. Bishop Remigius Gaulin saw the need for a Catholic hospital in Kingston and, in 1841, asked the Religious Hospitallers of Saint Joseph to come to Kingston to found a hospital. In 1845, the first patient was brought to the small quarters of the newly opened Hotel Dieu Hospital. Members of the congregation of the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul came to Kingston in 1861 at the invitation of the Bishop E.J. Horan. They founded what is today known as Providence Manor, originally a home for destitute elderly persons and orphans, and the forerunner of Providence Care, which now includes St. Mary’s of the Lake Hospital site and Mental Health Services site. Over the years the Archdiocese has been a frequent donor to various hospital appeals.

"We are pleased to support the powerful legacy of caring which these hospitals have provided in our community. We trust that this financial gift will assist them in meeting the challenges and opportunities of health care today and for years to come," said Most Rev. Brendan Michael O'Brien, Archbishop of Kingston.

First row, left to right: Most Rev. Brendan Michael O'Brien, Archbishop of Kingston; Barb Potter, former patient at Hotel Dieu Hospital; Gloria Cunningham, nurse at Hotel Dieu Hospital; and Todd Helsby, patient at Providence Care’s St. Mary’s of the Lake Hospital site. Back row, left to right: Sister Shelia Langton, Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul; Shirley Kelliher, Archdiocese of Kingston; Guy Legros, Archdiocese of Kingston; Father John Brennan, Vice-Chancellor, Archdiocese of Kingston; Linda DeLong, Nurse, at Providence Care’s St. Mary’s of the Lake Hospital site; Dale Kenney, CEO of Providence Care; and Ian Purcell, Financial Administrator, Archdiocese of Kingston.