Sponsored Institutions - Stories

January 19, 2016, Henderson, Nevada – Reach, the quarterly magazine of Dignity Health St. Rose Dominican Hospitals, has profiled two Adrian Dominican Sisters who minister at the hospital: Sister Carol Elya in the Fall 2015 issue and Sister Kathleen (Katie) McGrail, OP, in the Winter 2016 issue.

Sister Carol, at 72, leads a very active life in her ministry at the hospital’s Rose de Lima Campus: patching, painting, or repairing anything that needs it. The only woman in the hospital’s seven-member maintenance team, Sister Carol began her years of ministry as a teacher and, after earning a master’s degree in physical education, as a physical education teacher and coach. She also served on a Navajo reservation for three years before beginning her service at St. Rose Dominican in 2003.

Sister Carol told Reach that serving at St. Rose Dominican is “a wonderful opportunity to help people in a different way. And I’m doing something that I love – working with my hands.”

Sister Katie, who has served at St. Rose Dominican for five years, is the Vice President of Mission Integration and Spiritual Care at the Siena Campus. She uses her education and grounding in theology, spirituality, and counseling to help the hospital’s lay employees understand the Adrian Dominican Mission and Vision.

Before beginning her work at St. Rose Dominican, Sister Katie was a teacher, a high school counselor, and a minister for seven years in Kenya.  She appreciated the spiritual nature of the people of Africa, who “were very happy even though much of hteir day was spent simply surviving.” In addition, Sister Katie appreciates the spirit of her co-workers at St. Rose Dominican, who she believes work at St. Rose “for something deeper than just practicing clinical skills.”

To read the entire article on Sister Katie, click here and, on the double arrow pointing to the right, on the bottom right-hand corner, continue clicking until you get to page 14-15 of the magazine.

The Adrian Dominican Sisters have served in health care in Henderson, Nevada, since 1947, when they purchased the Basic Magnesium Hospital from the U.S. government for $1 and renamed it St. Rose Dominican. Along with the St. Rose de Lima Campus, the original facility, and the Siena Campus, founded in 1998, St. Rose Dominican Hospitals also includes the St. Martin Campus, opened in 2006 in southwest Las Vegas.