“The Sisters of Saint Joseph serve others with loving care and concern as Joseph served Jesus and Mary”

The Sisters of Saint Joseph were founded in France in 1650 by six women with the guidance of Father Jean Pierre Medaille, a Jesuit. At the invitation of Bishop Josue Young of Erie, Mother Agnes Spencer assumed direction of a girl’s academy in Corsica in 1860.

Mother Agnes was a woman of great tact, outstanding leadership, and a resolute determination to serve “the dear neighbor.” Seeking to purchase property in Meadville in 1865, the bank refused to deal with her because she wore the religious habit. Undaunted, Mother Agnes went home and donned secular dress, and then returned to the bank to complete the transaction. That year she opened Meadville’s St. Joseph Hospital, later renamed Spencer Hospital in her honor. In 1985 Spencer Hospital and Meadville City Hospital consolidated to form Meadville Medical Center.

The Sisters administered to the people in need of health care and later founded St. Vincent Hospital, the first hospital in Erie in 1875. The St. Vincent School of Nursing was established in 1901.

Sister Mary Bernard Sheridan began nursing studies at St. Vincent in 1877. In 2004 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania honored her with an historical marker recognizing her as the first trained nurse anesthetist in the United States.

Another field of healthcare embraced by the Sisters of Saint Joseph was St. Mary’s Home for the Aged, which opened in 1884.

As needs arise the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Northwestern Pennsylvania continue to expand their ministry in the Healthcare field.

For additional information on the Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern Pennsylvania, please visit their homepage by clicking here.