Pioneer Award 2015 - Mother M. Raphael Gregg
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The OHCA Pioneer Award is designed to recognize Ohioans influential
in the development and advancement of long-term care programs,
education, professionalism or ideals. The Awards honor the commitment of
these individuals to excellence in long-term care services.
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MOTHER M. RAPHAEL GREGG
Mother Mary Raphael Gregg became a Catholic Sister on October 3, 1954, joining the Sisters of St. Joseph of St. Mark in Euclid, Ohio. The sisters had purchased the summer estate of a Cleveland shipping businessman's family and had been providing rest home services to patients in the “Old White House" on the property.
At that time, there were around fifty sisters in the ministry and some of them, including Sister Raphael, were sent to nursing school where she first became an LPN in 1958. Later, in 1979 she earned her RN license and was awarded her BSN degree in 1992.
In the 1950s, the Sisters built a 100-bed nursing facility in increments using the monies that they earned catering parties and hosting weddings for local people in the basement of the White House. They called the home Mount Saint Joseph.
Committed to her mission as a sister and to her passion for long term care, Sister Raphael became a licensed nursing home administrator in 1999 after completing an internship at St. Augustine Manor. She eventually became the Administrator of Mt. St. Joseph and was later appointed Mother Superior of the order.
Mother Raphael was the guiding influence as the sisters replaced their nursing facility with a new, state of the art rehabilitation center in 2012. With Mother Raphael managing every detail of the design and construction of the new home, Mount St. Joseph Nursing Home became Mount St. Joseph Rehab Center continuing its legacy of caring long into the future.
Mother Raphael and her fellow Sisters have lived in separate quarters within the nursing home since the 1950s. Her lifetime commitment and dedication to her residents, to her fellow sisters and to her mission is truly remarkable.
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