Taitung, Taiwan: 1961. The savage sun beatsdown upon the backs of men tending to the fields. Their skin scorched red byits ravaging rays, but there is no time to halt. Work means Life and Life mustbe lived. Not far away on those very fields, a weary woman laysincarcerated by the earth, pulse pounding, rags drenched in sweat and blood.
And just as her last breath is taken from her,her newborn child breathes its first.
It was from this dire image that St. Mary'sHospital was born. Greatly afflicted by the sight of women bearing babies inthe fields and the poor sanitary conditions, Swiss fathers and Irish sisters inTaitung began to raise money abroad to build St. Mary's as a center forobstetrics. They introduced physicians and equipment to Taiwan and even trainedlocal nurses to practice as "fake nurses" without certificates due toa shortage of professionals.
If you visit the hospital today, you may besurprised. St. Mary's is not your conventional hospital. Affectionatelyknown as "Taiwan's Biggest Little Hospital" Taitung St. Mary'sHospital may only have 29 hospital beds, but its health promotion and outreachprograms permeate deeply throughout the county, helping thousands everyyear. Early in the morning, a nun, nurse and doctor are en routetogether to care for patients in their homes. A delivery truck, heavily ladenwith meals for the elderly winds through the mountains not far behind. Lateron, a team of social workers and aromatherapists lead a dozen elderly Aboriginalwomen in gentle exercises and invigorating massages. In the afternoon, guestdoctors lecture patients on diabetes prevention and care. Meanwhile, trainedvolunteers guide visitors on a tour of the lush St. Mary's Organic Health Farmor Pei-Tse Institute, a learning center for chronic illnesses.
But despite its flourishing facade, St. Mary'sHospital has been inundated with financial difficulties and has come desperatelyclose to shutting its doors not once, but twice within the past decade. Ironically,hospital employees have won six "Medical Devotion Awards" as well asthe prestigious "Group Medical Devotion Award" in 2008. This makesthe hospital the most frequent recipient of public commendation in all ofTaiwan. However, in 2009 financial woes came to an apex. The hospital wasunable to pay workers' salaries and faced the possibility of closure. Theclosure of the hospital would not only mean the peoples' loss of many gooddoctors and nurses, but also the loss of the top diabetes group in Taiwan andthe only hospice care in Taitung. A hospital with over half a century ofhistory caring for and pouring love into the county of Taitung would be lost.Would the cost of up-keeping the hospital outweigh the price of the patients'well-being? If such an outstanding hospital was forced to close, what was wrongwith the medical systems in Taiwan? St. Mary's realized that if the hospitalwas to survive, it would have to raise a stifling $30million NT.
Fundraising commenced. Telephones ranground-the-clock, emails flooded in non-stop. The staff of St. Mary's had noteven a moment to sleep! And in April of 2009, an amazing thing happened. The"Love" which St. Mary's had so unreservedly poured into Taitung forthe past 50 years, flowed back into the hospital, but this time from alldirections across the globe. In just 8 days, the world's biggest littlehospital raised an astonishing $89million NT from generous contributors –nearlythree times the projected goal of $30 million NT! We were deeply moved by theiracts of kindness and generosity!
The positive energy that has surrounded TaitungSt. Mary's Hospital is more than just the reward of the compassionate seedsplanted in the hospital's early history; it represents the yearning incontemporary Taiwanese Society for a more humane model of medicine. Overthe years, the endless devotion of many outstanding individuals from JenniferChen, a woman who was taken no more than a $1 wage over the past 30 years, toSense Chen, who sacrificed his high-paying job as a writer and museum curatorin Taipei to serve as St. Mary's CEO, has shaped the shining identity of St.Mary's Hospital. Driven by a simple phrase: "To do what others don'tand go where others won't," the compassionate staff and volunteers of St.Mary's Hospital strive to fulfill the never-ending project to "Love God,Love people! Respect life! And serve the poor!"
