A Letter from Austin Daughters of Charity to the Seton Medical Staff
Dear Medical Staff,
In 2011, four of the five provinces of the Daughters of Charity in the United States joined to form the single Province of St. Louise. Since that time, the Province has been engaged in a study of its missions and ministries spread throughout a large portion of the country. The purpose of the study has been to guide the future alignment of the human resources, physical presence and active service of the Daughters of Charity in the Province.
Several factors were considered in this study:
- the number of Daughters available to staff ministries;
- the ability to sustain sufficiently sized communities of Daughters in local missions; and
- the confidence in the readiness of lay leadership to sustain works initiated by the Daughters.
Seton and the Daughters’ ministries in Austin have been part of the process of discernment concerning the future presence of active Daughters communities.
This assessment has led to the conclusion that the Daughters of Charity will leave Austin by the fall of 2014. Austin has been a mission field for the Daughters of Charity since 1902.
Being able to entrust the ministries of the Seton Healthcare Family to well-prepared lay and community leadership affirms the Daughters’ confidence in the direction and sustainability of the work in Austin. This decision means that the Daughters believe Seton has the resources to continue its ministry into the future. And, this decision allows the Daughters the opportunity to place available Sisters in ministries where there is greatest need of their presence. We believe Seton’s commitment to its historic mission of healing and faithfulness is in good hands.
The Daughters of Charity are grateful to have worked with so many people and organizations committed to serving persons who are poor and vulnerable. We have every confidence that as we entrust to you the ministries begun so many years ago they will continue to thrive well into the next 100 years and beyond.
The Austin Daughters of Charity
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