‘From Southern Illinois to Ukraine: A Faith Response by HSHS’ scheduled for Nov. 7
A public presentation by Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach on Nov. 7
The public is invited to join in from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 7 for “From Southern Illinois to Ukraine: A Faith Response by HSHS,” and learn about how HSHS hospitals in the southern Illinois area are helping provide critical resources to health care facilities around the world, including Ukraine.
The event will be held at St. Clare Church, located at 1411 Cross St., O’Fallon, Ill.
Amid war in Ukraine, Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach – a global health affiliate of HSHS – has shipped five 40’ containers of requested medical supplies and equipment to Ukrainian hospitals.
HSHS hospitals in southern Illinois, including St. Elizabeth’s Hospital-O’Fallon, St. Joseph’s Hospital-Breese, St. Joseph’s Hospital-Highland and Holy Family Hospital-Greenville, contributed to the effort to support Ukrainian hospitals in both rural and urban areas who are delivering health care to their communities, even with an influx of internal refugees and both civilians and soldiers wounded by war.
“From Southern Illinois to Ukraine: A Faith Response by HSHS” will be presented by Erica Smith, executive director of Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach. In April 2024, Smith joined Vatican representatives to travel to Ukraine and learn about the impact of donations. She will talk about her experiences meeting with Ukrainian physicians, health care administrators, and community leaders throughout the country and also describe how Mission Outreach continues to support recovery and rebuild efforts in Ukraine, even as the war continues.
In addition, attendees will learn more about Mission Outreach’s global impact and their advocacy for ethical responses to crises through responsible medical donations and other programs.
“I’m excited to highlight the connection that our HSHS hospitals in southern Illinois have, through various medical surplus recovery programs, to the work Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach does in both the U.S. and other countries,” said Chris Klay, president and CEO, HSH Southern Illinois Market. “Global health work is happening right here!”
To attend “From Southern Illinois to Ukraine: A Faith Response by HSHS,” RSVP to [email protected]. Light hors d’oeuvres will be served at the event.
About Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach
Founded in 2002 by the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis, became an affiliate of Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS) in 2020. Mission Outreach receives donations of surplus but usable medical supplies and equipment from 81 donor hospitals and clinics in the Midwest, including HSHS, Ascension, OSF Healthcare, Mercy Health, and others. Last year Mission Outreach shipped about $5,000,000 worth of medical supplies and equipment to partners in more than 30 countries in Africa, Central/South America, Asia, and Europe. For more information, visit www.mission-outreach.org.
About Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS)
HSHS St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, O’Fallon, is part of Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS), a Catholic health care ministry founded in 1875. Dedicated to our Mission to reveal and embody Christ’s healing love for all people through high-quality Franciscan health care, HSHS clinicians provide exceptional care centered on the whole person. Based in Springfield, Ill., HSHS employs more than 11,000 colleagues who provide care in 13 acute-care, children’s and critical-access hospitals and home health and hospice programs in Central and Southern Illinois and Eastern Wisconsin. HSHS is aligned with more than 1,000 primary and specialty physicians and advanced practitioners through its owned affiliates HSHS Medical Group and Prairie Cardiovascular and its partnership with Prevea Health. For more information about HSHS, visit hshs.org.
