Our Tradition of Compassionate Care

By Cassandra Perret

Imagine traveling from Maryland to San Francisco with six other close companions. Before you think about arranging plane tickets and hotel accommodations, think about this: in order to reach San Francisco you have to sail down to Panama, complete an arduous trek across the isthmus on mule back, then sail up the Pacific to finally arrive in San Francisco, only after two of your companions die of cholera. Oh, and by the way, the setting is 1852 and you are between the ages of 30 – 50. This was the plight that seven Catholic sisters endured on their quest to San Francisco. In later years, other sisters helped establish what is now the only faith-based, nonprofit hospital completely dedicated to serving the sick and the poor in San Jose.

In 1663 with a dream to heal all in need, the French priest Vincent de Paul and his protégé disciple, Louise de Marillac, worked with French peasant women to form an aid organization committed to serving the sick and the poor, known as the Daughters of Charity. For more than 200 years, the Daughters’ wholesome and sympathetic service flourished throughout Europe. One day, an inspired American learned of their services and introduced their philosophy in her small, religious Community in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton died before her Community united with the Daughters of Charity in Paris, France, but her dream to instill the Daughters’ values of simplicity, compassion, advocacy for the poor and inventiveness to infinity throughout the country became a reality.

In the rapidly growing county of Santa Clara, California, one young couple shared a similar dream. Judge Myles P. O’Connor and his wife, Amanda O’Connor, had triumphantly built a fortune from the Gold Rush and the Sierra Nevada Mine Company, and began thinking about contributing their wealth towards serving the community. Although they helped fund, found and reconstruct many facilities throughout their time in San Jose, their biggest contribution to Santa Clara Valley was their hospital.

After moving from Grass Valley to San Jose, the couple bought and lived in an estate in Baltimore, Maryland from 1880 to 1884. There, they met two influential religious figures; Archbishop James Gibson, America’s second cardinal, and Bishop John J. Keane, founder of the Catholic University of America at Washington D.C. Perhaps inspired by the close connection with these individuals, Amanda O’Connor decided to become a Catholic and was converted in Baltimore in 1884.

That summer of 1884, the O’Connors returned to San Jose. Having rekindled their plan to build a home for the aged and needy, the O’Connors purchased a bucolic 8.395-acre plot upon which they intended to construct a two-story brick residence. With the construction underway, Judge Myles O’Connor contacted the Archbishop of San Francisco and discussed a property for a sanitarium. The hospital, in Mr. O’Connor’s words, was to be used as a “sanitarium for the sick, a home for the aged, an asylum for orphans and a school for children.” First Amanda O’Connor and then Archbishop Patrick William Riordian requested the Maryland motherhouse send Daughters to San Jose to manage the O’Connor Sanitarium. Initially, the Daughters were reluctant, but eventually accepted the proposal and sent sisters to open the sanitarium.

Upon arriving, the four Daughters wrote back to Maryland in awe, telling of the Valley’s flawless climate, countryside, and people. The Daughters equally intrigued San Jose natives by their distinct habit and headdress, with wings more than one foot wide on each side. Local residents soon learned to appreciate the Daughters’ gentle services, and O’Connor Hospital became a well-respected establishment despite its lack of surgery or maternity, laboratory, pediatric or emergency services at that time.

In 1898, the Daughters opened a nursing school in conjunction with the Sanitarium. Over the next 100 years, the hospital made several changes – O’Connor Sanitarium turned into O’Connor Hospital and later moved to a larger location in 1953. A bigger lot allowed for more staff and beds, while large donations from the community permitted the hospital to purchase more advanced equipment.

Today, O’Connor Hospital has an experienced team of 530 physicians, 485 nurses and many other clinical and support staff who provide quality healthcare to the community accepting all patients regardless of financial circumstances. With 358 beds, 32 different departments and state-of-the-art medical equipment and technology, the hospital offers a full complement of inpatient and outpatient services. As a nonprofit, community-based hospital, O’Connor continues to live the values that St. Vincent de Paul established with a special emphasis on advocacy for the poor.

The “Adult Gift of Life” program is one of many special outreach projects the hospital has to help those in need. Every year the hospital and the Rotary Club of San Jose select an individual in such dire need of medical care that he or she would die without it, and then offers that person free treatment. These individuals are typically selected from Third World countries where they do not have the access to advanced care or the resources to pay for such healthcare. In 2004, the patient who received the “Gift of Life” was Felix Joseph Ramos, a 34-year-old taxi driver from the Dominican Republic who needed an aortic-valve-replacement. O’Connor Hospital and Rotary Club covered everything from plane tickets, to car rides, to hotel costs, to Giants game tickets, to the five-hour heart surgery itself. The medical staff generously donates their time to perform the procedures.

O’Connor also reaches out to its patients and community is through its Congregational Health Ministries. Affiliated with five local churches and two Catholic Charity-run senior citizen centers, Parish Nurses emphasize the wellness of each individual through the mind, body and spirit. The Parish Nurse program provides free screenings, health care guidance and education, doctor referrals, and support groups to the working poor and those without health insurance, and will visit homebound elderly to assist them in their daily lives. The program positively impacts in the local community. Last year, Parish Nurses diagnosed 1,474 people with abnormal conditions when screened for high blood pressure, blood sugar, poor vision and obesity. Through the detection of potential health risks, nurses gave guidance and educated their patients about further health opportunities to manage their conditions. Without this program, many of these individuals might have otherwise never learned of their illnesses until possibly too late.

To meet the growing medical needs of the community, O’Connor Hospital will invest over $12.5 million in a larger and improved Emergency Department (ED). The new 14,000 square foot ED will replace the existing 11-bed ED built in the early 1950′s, with 21-beds and the latest technology and equipment. Improvements will include two critical care rooms, two gynecological rooms, two pediatric rooms, an ENT room, seven urgent care rooms, eight chest pain rooms with specialized equipment, and a brand new laboratory with state-of-the-art equipment to facilitate a speedy diagnosis. The new ED will meet many critical needs including the expected additional 10,000 emergency patient visits created by the closure of San Jose Medical Center. In addition, the expansion will reduce ambulance diversions because of overcrowding, shorten wait times for care and meet state mandated seismic safety standards.

In the tradition of Judge Myles and Amanda O’Connor, philanthropic support from the community will help to fund the new Emergency Department. The O’Connor Hospital Foundation is hosting the inaugural “Spirit of O’Connor Hospital” dinner in May to benefit the expansion and improvement project. An elegant evening is planned to celebrate the opening of the new ED and to thank everyone involved in supporting O’Connor Hospital.

“It’s just a wonderful hospital,” expressed Helen Marchese Owen, Chair of the O’Connor Hospital Foundation Board of Directors and an active leader in San Jose community affairs. “Everyone does a great job of making patients, visitors and even staff members feel at home and cared for, and their compassionate service always comes with a smile.”