The Sisters of Charity receives a prestigious award for service

LEWISTON – Good nutrition may be its own reward, but local programs of the Sisters of Charity Health System have also earned national recognition and a $10,000 prize for community efforts.

Sisters of Charity was one of four finalists for the 2006 Foster G. McGaw Prize, one of the most prestigious honors for excellence in community service in health care.

“It’s a very extensive evaluation that covers a lot of categories,” said Jack Barry, president of the American Hospital Association.

The Sisters of Charity Health System, which includes St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center, impressed the prize committee with its approach to community health, such as assuming operations of a food pantry, building affordable houses and tailoring medical services to the cultural needs of its newest immigrants, said Susan Manilow, chairwoman of the Foster G. McGaw Prize Committee.

“The Sisters of Charity Health System displays a passion for doing what needs to be done, even if it seems to go beyond what is expected of a hospital or health system,” Manilow said in a prepared statement.

James Cassidy, CEO of the Sisters of Charity Health System, said the Lewiston institution was the smallest of the four finalists, and was the only Catholic hospital among them.

“We’re proud to be able to honor the commitment of the original sisters who came here more than 100 years ago to serve those in the greatest need,” Cassidy said.

The contest application focused on several programs operating out of the health system’s Nutrition Center on the corner of Bates and Walnut streets: a nutrition theater that provides kitchen and class space for hands-on cooking demonstrations for children and adults; Lots to Gardens, which with more than 220 youth and adult volunteers helped create 14 gardens and green spaces throughout the community and supplied food to 50 families; HealthSteps, an arm of St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center’s fitness programs; and the Sisters of Charity Food Pantry, which served 22,935 people last year.

The $10,000 award will be used to pay for additional work at the Nutrition Center, Cassidy said.

Annette Bourque, program manager at the Nutrition Center, looks forward to adding classes upstairs where space remains to be renovated.

In the nutrition theater on Wednesday, about a dozen Androscoggin Head Start students enjoyed snacks they had helped prepare. Learning healthy choices and new food options is an objective of the program.

Outside the kitchen, visitors were offered samples of a healthy chili recipe. Bags filled with the necessary ingredients were given away. There was also a sampling of Somali food at the Nutrition Center Wednesday morning.

Kiin Issa, a Somali translator at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center, offered sambusa, a traditional Somali food. It’s a triangular meat- and bean-filled pastry.

The Foster G. McGaw Prize is sponsored by the American Hospital Association, the Baxter International Foundation and the Cardinal Health Foundation.

The 2006 winner of the $100,000 Foster G. McGaw Prize was Memorial Healthcare System of Hollywood, Fla. In addition to Sisters of Charity Health System, the other finalists were Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, N.Y., and Baystate Health in Springfield, Mass.