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Our Lady of Lourdes Names Sister Elizabeth Corry Award Winner

Lourdes Employee Honored for Dedication to Mission, Values

Lourdes Health System employee and Delanco resident Janice Green has been selected as the recipient of Lourdes’ prestigious Sister M. Elizabeth Corry, OSF Award.  The annual award is the highest honor bestowed upon a Lourdes Health System employee.

Green, an accountant at LIFE at Lourdes – a unique program based in Pennsauken, NJ, that assists elders to live safely at home while providing them with a team of healthcare experts –was among 26 employees from throughout the health system, and one department, nominated for demonstrating the core value of “Commitment to Those in Need.”

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Guest speaker Sister Mary McNally, OSF, vice president of mission of St. Anthony’s Hospital in Florida and sister of former Lourdes Vice President of Mission Owen McNally, said at the awards ceremony, “The love and compassion that inspired Sister Elizabeth Corry to care for those in need continues today in you. Today, you are God’s instrument of love and compassion in a world that needs it so much.”

Green’s commitment to the participants at LIFE at Lourdes doesn’t end when she leaves the Pennsauken day center. A 12-year Lourdes employee, Green was recognized for quietly noticing the needs of others and acting on them.  Her “Commitment to Those in Need” included taking a terminally ill woman to church every Sunday and to her home for dinner, delivering home-cooked meals to a lonely participant, and even organizing a staff choir to help participants grieve the passing of their friends. She even made sure LIFE participants were not charged a fee when cashing a check at the bank.

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Alexander J. Hatala, Lourdes Health System President and CEO, said all of the nominees play an important role in defining the organization and carrying Lourdes’ mission forward. “You don’t always realize how much of a difference you make,” Hatala told nominees at the awards ceremony. He continued, “It’s our mission. It’s who we are, the legacy we want to continue.”

The award is named after Sister M. Elizabeth Corry, OSF, who served as president of Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center from 1969 to 1983 and 1987 to 1995. Under her guidance and leadership, Lourdes initiated many of the services which the medical center is known for today, including cardiology, organ transplantation, acute physical rehabilitation and high-risk maternity care. In 1995, Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center became the only hospital in the tri-state area (New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware) ever to have been given the American Hospital Association’s Foster McGaw award for excellence in community service.  

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