Women at the helm of OLA Healthcare Tradition in providing healing, hope for communities

Special to the Daily News

The Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Sisters were unquestionably pioneers — women, founding a healthcare system in the deep South — proving beyond doubt that women can be exceptional leaders.

The health system that sponsors Our Lady of the Angels Health has a story that began 112 years ago when six Franciscan Sisters traveled from Europe and made Louisiana their new home. They immediately began caring for the sick and under served and, two years later, they opened St. Francis Medical Center in Monroe. This was the first of many hospitals founded under their leadership.

“Our Sisters made no distinction between what was clinical and what was social. They provided nursing care, to be sure, but they prayed with patients while they were dying, sang to those who were lonely while they bandaged their wounds and taught children their lessons while they were hospitalized. They understood the concept of social medicine, of population-based healthcare, of healthy communities, long before these ideas became commonplace,” said Sr. Helen Cahill, Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady.

In 2014, they answered the call the save LSU Bogalusa Medical Center from imminent closure, and Our Lady of the Angels Health began serving the people of Washington Parish. Over the past nine years, they have expanded access to award-winning healthcare and invested millions into physical and organizational improvements. Our Lady of the Angels has garnered many national and regional accolades. They were named a Leapfrog Top Rural Hospital in 2020, they are 1 of 5 Louisiana birthing hospitals to achieve the rigorous Birth Ready+ designation, they have been recognized by Health Grades as a national leader in patient experience and outstanding patient safety, and they have