The History of The Dominican Friars Health Care Ministry of New York

Founded in 1897, the Dominican Friars  and The Church of Saint Catherine of Siena have been serving the community for over one hundred years. From the first founding of the surrounding hospitals in the 1930’s, such as Memorial Sloan Kettering and the New York Presbyterian-Weil Cornell Medical Center, the Dominican Friars have been the chaplains of these major medical centers, serving the spiritual needs of the staff and patients.

In response to the Church’s call for “a New Evangelization” beginning in 2002, and reaffirmed in 2006, the Dominican Province of Saint Joseph and The Parish and Priory of Saint Catherine of Siena embraced a “campus ministry model” of chaplaincy to better serve the needs of the medical community which our Parish embraces.

Through this model, the Dominican Friars Health Care Ministry of New York, and the Dominican Friars of the Parish and Priory of Saint Catherine strive to serve the patients and families, the medical personnel; offer ethical consultations and serve as educators in bioethics and Catholic Healthcare to the immediate community and beyond. Key to the success of this Ministry is the presence and participation of scores of volunteers from within the Parish and without. These men and women are vital to the success of our mission, and the corporal works of mercy that they do by visiting the sick are invaluable to both the patients and their families.

The Dominican Friars Health Care Ministry of New York is a response to the rapid changes that have seriously affected healthcare. In the last fifty years, there has been a cultural shift in the care that is offered to the sick and the dying. As the Church suffers from generations of poor catechesis, the dignity of the human person and the care each person deserves has been seriously compromised. The need for clear, caring and intelligent teaching by the Church and her ministers is more vital than ever!

The Dominican Friars Health Care Ministry of New York is prayerfully supported by the Hawthorne Dominican Sisters (a congregation of Dominican Sisters who care for those with terminal cancer), and the Dominican Nuns of Corpus Christi Monastery, Bronx, NY.