Emory Saint Joseph's Hospital employees and the Sisters of Mercy honored the hospital's patron saint during Saint Joseph's Day, hosting several activities including a food drive, the blessing of a new statue of Saint Joseph in the hospital's chapel and a video for patients.

Also known as the Feast of Saint Joseph, this annual event is focused on Joseph, the protector and provider of Mary and Jesus. Through the years, Joseph also became associated with comforting the sick and dying, and many hospitals and healthcare facilities throughout the world have been given the name Saint Joseph's for this reason.

The Sisters of Mercy established Saint Joseph's in 1880, and the patron saint is closely aligned with the Mercy mission of the hospital, which is to provide compassionate, clinically excellent health care to those in need, especially the poor and vulnerable. In commemoration of this special day, Emory Saint Joseph's patients received a card on their meal trays explaining the significance of Saint Joseph's Day, and the hospital's continued commitment to the Mercy mission. The video "Saint Joseph: A Hidden Life" was also broadcast on the hospital's private television system.

Father Urey Mark blessed a new statue of Saint Joseph's in the hospital's newly renovated chapel. The statue, carved in Italy, was made possible by a generous donor and is one of four statues of Saint Joseph placed in different locations around the hospital.

According to Sister Rosemary Smith, chief mission officer at Emory Saint Joseph's, a custom in many countries on Saint Joseph's Day is to provide a lavish table for the poor of the area. This year, Emory Saint Joseph's launched a variation on this custom with the Saint Joseph's Table food drive, placing donation bins in the main lobby, the Orthopaedics & Spine Pavilion and Winship Cancer Institute.

"We collected more than 300 non-perishable food items which will be distributed to Mercy Care and their partners," she says.