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March 20, 2025, Las Vegas, Nevada – The Las Vegas Summerlin Rotary Club recently honored the Adrian Dominican Sisters for their founding and more than 75 years of service at St. Rose Dominican Hospitals, currently the only faith-based, not-for-profit hospital in Nevada. The Rotary Club’s gala also raised funds for the St. Rose Dominican Hospitals Foundation.

The Mardi Gras Gala included live and silent auctions, as well as a presentation of plaques to the Adrian Dominican Sisters, recognizing their contribution to St. Rose Dominican Hospitals and the Las Vegas area. Katherine Vergos, President of St. Rose Dominican Hospitals, set the tone, presenting the history of the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ sponsorship and ministry at the hospitals. 

Sister Frances Nadolny, OP, General Councilor, represented the Adrian Dominican Sisters in accepting the award from the Summerlin Rotary Club. 

“I have received a wonderfully warm welcome on my first visit to Las Vegas and Henderson and all the beautiful points in this magnificent part of our country,” Sister Fran said. She noted that coming to Las Vegas was also a first-time experience for the seven Adrian Dominican Sisters who traveled from Adrian, Michigan, to Las Vegas in 1947 to assume responsibility for the new St. Rose Dominican Hospital. “The Sisters had many first-time experiences as they ventured into unknown territory and unfamiliar ministry,” Sister Fran said. “They were brave and bold. They looked at adversity with courage and trust.”

Sister Fran noted that, over the past 78 years, 80 Adrian Dominican Sisters have ministered in various ways at St. Rose Dominican Hospitals, which began with a single hospital building, now the St. Rose de Lima Campus, in Henderson, Nevada. The Siena Campus opened in 2000 in Henderson, and the San Martin Campus in 2006 in southwestern Las Vegas. The hospitals are now part of the CommonSpirit Health system and legacy institutions of the Adrian Dominican Sisters.

“On behalf of the Sisters who were innovative 78 years ago and those of us who walk proudly in their footsteps, thank you all for your generosity,” Sister Fran concluded.

Sister Patricia Dulka, OP, who served for the past 10 years on the St. Rose Dominican Hospitals Board, said the highlight of the evening for her was Sister Fran’s address because of the recognition of the Sisters who served at St. Rose over the years. “It was so humbling to receive all these praises in honor of the Adrian Dominican Sisters,” Sister Patricia said. “What inspired me was the whole idea of the people who have gone before us, the people on whose shoulders we stand.”

Sister Fran and Sister Patricia Dulka, OP, a member of the St. Rose Dominican Hospitals Board for 10 years, received a Proclamation of Gratitude from the Summerlin Rotary Club, as did the three Sisters who still minister at St. Rose Dominican: Sisters Kathleen “Katie” McGrail, OP, Mary Jean Williams, OP, and Elisabeth Nguyen, OP. 

Sister Katie especially appreciated the presence of several tables of hospital and Foundation staff members, including chaplains and members of the Community Health outreach program. “It indicated to me the strong support of our leadership and the St. Rose Dominican Foundation,” she said. “They are so committed to the legacy.”

The award “was really dedicated to all the Sisters who have come to minister in the hospital,” said Sister Jean, who has served at St. Rose for nearly nine years. “We just happen to be the ones here now, representing all the Sisters who have been in ministry.”

Sisters Katie and Jean serve in outreach through the hospital’s Community Health program which offers healthcare education and support for the local public. “We often say we’ve failed if we don’t keep people out of the hospital,” Sister Jean said.

Sisters Jean and Katie offer classes for caregivers. In one class, they work with people who have dementia and with their caregivers, teaching them self-care even as they care for their loved ones with dementia. When they finish the program, Sisters Katie and Jean offer a continuation program, supporting the memories of people with dementia and offering a support group for the caregivers. 

Both Sisters often train senior peer counselors, who “counsel seniors like themselves facing senior issues,” such as loneliness, the loss of a spouse, and changes in health, Sister Katie said. Sister Jean herself is also a senior peer counselor. Sister Jean added that another program, Pathways, offers support to seniors in 21 areas, including health and financing. “This is a tremendous opportunity for people who need help,” Sister Jean said.

Sister Elisabeth has been at St. Rose Dominican for two years after ministering for more than 40 years in refugee resettlement through Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Oakland, California. Her current volunteer ministry – distributing Communion two days a week to about 35-40 patients in the Siena Campus – is a “big change” from working with the refugees, she said.

Still, Sister Elisabeth enjoys her current ministry of bringing Communion and spending some time with the patients. She meets many Catholic patients who no longer practice their faith. “We need to pray for them,” she said, noting that some have been away from the faith for a long time. “Some are very excited that we come by and see them. People want to talk. We’re not supposed to give advice – just let them talk.”

Sister Elisabeth enjoyed the Mardi Gras Gala and the opportunity to honor the Sisters who served at St. Rose Dominican over the years. “I was so honored to be part of the celebration, to be there for all the Sisters who have gone before us” in service at St. Rose Dominican, she said. “They’re the ones who have done so much work before I came here. Sometimes when I go to events like this, I go for them because they did all the work.”
 

Feature photo at top: Standing with their Proclamations of Gratitude from the Rotary Club of Summerlin are, from left, Sisters Kathleen McGrail, OP, Frances Nadolny, OP, Patricia Dulka, OP, Mary Jean Williams, OP, and Elisabeth Nguyen, OP.