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Discover how a community of Catholic sisters helped build and transform America’s healthcare system.
For more than two centuries, the Daughters of Charity quietly worked to shape the institutions that became the backbone of American healthcare. Drawing on his experience as a healthcare attorney and his expertise in health policy and health administration, Carl F. Ameringer offers the first comprehensive history of the Daughters’ healthcare apostolate in the United States, from the founding of their first hospital in 1823 to the transfer of their extensive hospital network in 2012.
Donning their distinctive white-winged cornettes, the Daughters served the sick poor during wars and epidemics, economic recessions and urbanization, founding more than fifty hospitals nationwide. Ameringer shows how they navigated major transformations in medicine and society while overcoming prejudice against women and Catholics and opposition from clergy, physicians, and politicians along the way.
The Daughters of Charity, Catholic Hospitals, and the Expansion of American Healthcare reveals the scale and significance of the Daughters’ contribution to American healthcare and traces a legacy that continues to influence the field today.
"Ameringer's work on the hospital ministry conducted by the Daughters of Charity for over two centuries expertly places their work within the larger story of the history of healthcare in the United States. This meticulously researched book is a welcome addition to the growing body of work detailing the many ways in which religious congregations developed ministries dedicated to serving those in need." —Margaret M. McGuinness, author of Called to Serve
“It is a timely book. In light of recent Supreme Court decisions, debates over religious freedom, and the criticisms of Catholic hospitals over abortion and reproductive procedures, readers need to be reminded of Catholic sisters’ work. Historically, they adapted, which should serve as a role model for Catholic hospitals today that are increasingly being criticized for losing sight of their mission.” —Barbra Mann Wall, author of American Catholic Hospitals
“Ameringer’s book tells a fascinating and important story. The successes and failures of the sisters, their battles with medicine and influential churchmen, and the controversies over reproductive health, all had extraordinary implications for the American health care system. This is a fascinating story well told.” —Sioban Nelson, co-author of Creating the Health Care Team of the Future
“Meticulously researched and compellingly argued, Ameringer's book shows how the Daughters of Charity — often overlooked in traditional histories of our health care system — were central architects of the US health care industry. The book tells the story of their influence on the evolution of the healthcare system we have today.” —Diane Hoffman, University of Maryland
Carl F. Ameringer is a former Maryland assistant attorney general and professor of health policy and politics at three different universities. He is the author of several books, most recently US Health Policy and Health Care Delivery: Doctors, Reformers, and Entrepreneurs.
List of Illustrations
List of Tables
Preface
List of Abbreviations
List of Featured Hospitals
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. The Hospital, a Place They Could Call Their Own
2. Immigration, Epidemics, Anti-Catholicism, and Slavery
3. Wartime Service
4. Daughters, Doctors, and Outpatient Clinics
5. “More Active, Vocal, and Visible”
6. Reconciling Divisions Over Access to Reproductive Services
7. “Time to Leave”
Appendix: Chronological List of Mother Superiors and Visitatrixes
Notes
Note on Archival Sources
Bibliography
Index