Happy Easter!
St. Francis Healthcare System has big plans for the future. On March 31 and April 1, our leadership team and members of St. Francis Healthcare System’s various boards that govern different aspects of our healthcare ministries participated in extensive strategic and tactical discussions focusing on the exciting transformation of our campus and how we can offer more services to the community.
We reviewed St. Francis Healthcare System’s Vision 2020 — our plan to add more services over the next three years. We covered a lot of ground. It was an exhilarating, exhausting, and validating experience. I enjoyed every moment. It was rewarding and encouraging to know we all recognize the great needs in the community, and we are all willing and ready to move forward as one cohesive team.
Our discussions also discussed the transformation of the Liliha campus into the St. Francis Kūpuna Village. As our vision for the campus was clarified, there was a consensus that St. Francis Healthcare System is on the right track to be the first in the islands to offer a convenient, one-stop center with a broad spectrum of services to meet the needs of seniors and caregivers.
The path that we have chosen will not be easy, but the Sisters of St. Francis have never shied away from challenges. They said “Yes” when asked to come to Hawaii to minister to those with Hansen’s disease, and they continued to say “Yes” to other opportunities they saw in the community. To carry on the Sisters’ legacy of caring, we also must say, “Yes” and be committed to creating healthy communities to meet the needs of Hawaii’s people.
No doubt, we will be stretched in new ways. We will be required to think and act beyond the constraints of our own thinking and experiences. We must act prudently, ever mindful that financial sustainability is an integral component of our mission, not a separate afterthought. We must dream big, be accountable stewards of what has been entrusted to us, and let God move us forward to a place that is beyond our human imagination.
When we look at the awesome road ahead of us, we see how small we are and how big God is. We are humbled and reminded of our finiteness. We are called for a specific purpose for a specific time. We are meeting the needs of today, and creating a culture of health and wellness for future generations. This is our contribution to the legacy of caring that began by Saint Marianne Cope and the Sisters of St. Francis more than 130 years ago. Future generations will look back and understand what we did for them in 2017.
We are in a place that we have never been before. During this Lenten season leading up to Easter, I pray you will join me as we submit our hearts and minds before God and let God raise us to new, exciting places in His perfect timing.
Mahalo for your ongoing support! Happy Easter!
Jerry Correa
President & CEO
St. Francis Healthcare System