Not everybody goes on the pilgrimage, where the high point — literally — is a view of downtown Vancouver from Providence Academy’s bell tower.
That affirmation of a 160-year-old tradition of caring is for those who follow in the footsteps of Mother Joseph.
Now another keeper of that heritage will share the pioneering nun’s story with the wider community.
After acquiring Providence Academy, the Fort Vancouver National Trust has charted out a renovation campaign. Repairs and upgrades are important pieces of the project, but they’re not the only things on the to-do list. The nonprofit is designing and installing displays, interpretive panels and exhibits to explain the history behind the landmark at 400 E. Evergreen Blvd.
And it’s an impressive history, said Tim Serban, an official with Providence Health & Services. The health-care system is part of the legacy of Mother Joseph and her four Sisters of Providence companions.
The group left Montreal on Nov. 3, 1856, and arrived here on Dec. 8 after a 6,000-mile journey. They opened the first permanent hospital in the Northwest in Vancouver in 1858.
Today, Providence Health & Services operates 50 hospitals and more than 800 clinics across seven states. The system includes well over 100,000 caregivers, which is how Providence describes all its employees, Serban said: “Everybody impacts care.”
And they come to Vancouver for inspiration.
“We do pilgrimages to the Academy to honor (Mother Joseph’s) story,” said Serban. It is a formative experience, not a tour, he said.
“We teach our caregivers what was it like for them, and how we continue to be inspired by the work they did.”
To add some perspective on just what Mother Joseph accomplished in building the Academy, “I have them look out the top of the bell tower,” Serban said Thursday afternoon. “It’s an incredible view.”
Providence Health & Services had scheduled one of its Academy pilgrimages Thursday to observe the 160th anniversary. About 80 people were scheduled to actually follow the path Mother Joseph and her companions took after the steamship docked: from the river to the St. James Catholic mission near Fort Vancouver and eventually to the Academy. It was canceled because of the snowy weather.
“That could have been a day very much like today,” he said of the nuns’ 1856 arrival.
For people looking for more of a drop-in look at Mother Joseph’s legacy, the Fort Vancouver National Trust is working on some interpretive materials and display areas. A timeline illustrated with archive photos will welcome visitors to the main entryway, which also is being remodeled.
The interpretive work was funded with money from a county historic preservation grant and a private donor, said Richard Burrows, the National Trust’s director of community outreach.
The information on the panels “is a quick read,” Burrows said. “The next phase will be an exhibit gallery — more of a museum setting.”
That will be financed by $20,000 from another round of county historic preservation grants approved in late November.
Some significant remodeling and renovating, including roof work, is scheduled for 2017, Burrows said.
