Anniversary celebration

This well-known institution preceded North Dakota statehood, before Bismarck had its own diocese, even before the Benedictine Sisters here had a priory to call their own.
 
May 6, 2025, marks the 140th anniversary when St. Alexius Health treated its first patient in the former Lamborn Hotel building at the corner of Sixth Street and Main Avenue.
 
The milestone will be commemorated Tuesday, May 6 with a host of activities. Bishop Kagan will celebrate Mass at 10:30 a.m. at the Pro-Cathedral of St. Mary in Bismarck. That will be followed by a presentation, lunch, cake and archival display at 11:30 a.m. at CHI St. Alexius Health site on Broadway Avenue. The public is invited to attend all events of the celebration.

This regionally distinguished and highly reputable medical care facility with its multifaceted health care services was seeded in some very humble beginnings. The Sisters of the Order of St. Benedict’s origins began in Bavaria, Germany then spanned to America, first to Pennsylvania and then to Minnesota. When immigrants began arriving in the Dakota Territory, the Benedictine Sisters in St. Joseph, Minn. followed. In 1878, their initial assignment was to educate the people of the plains both academically and spiritually with an academy. They arrived March 21, 1878. 
 
“They came out here on a train one day, started teaching the next day," said Sister Mariah Dietz, OSB of the Annunciation Monastery in Bismarck. The sisters began boarding students to teach. Children of all backgrounds and religions were welcomed as the sisters adhered to the Rule of Benedict to relieve the lot of the poor, clothe the naked and visit the sick, according to historical accounts.”
 
Yet, it soon became obvious that the pioneer town lacked central, consistent medical care for the region. Settlers suffered from the likes of typhoid and “plains fever.” Soon, the business leaders of the community approached Abbot Alexius Edelbrock, OSB of Minnesota about opening a hospital while he visited St. Mary’s parish in Bismarck and St. Joseph’s parish in Mandan.
 
Doctors were present in and near the pioneer town in the late 19th Century but in a limited capacity, according to historical accounts. These frontier doctors were independent and often traveled miles to treat patients with minimal resources and simple medical supplies for the ailing who were first treated at home by family and friends. Across the Missouri River at Fort Lincoln, military doctors treated mostly young men as needed so they could return to duty. Serious illnesses disqualified the men from the military, and they were sent home.
 
With funding from St. John’s Abbey in Minnesota, Abbot Alexius provided the sisters with a $24,000 loan to purchase the Lamborn Hotel building in 1885, thus beginning the first hospital in the Dakota Territory. It had three floors. The sisters lived on the top floor and cared for patients below. They treated 66 patients its first year.

By 1887, the Sisters of St. Benedict paid off enough of the debt and the building was rededicated as St. Alexius Hospital and the abbot blessed the 20-bed facility. Even in its early years, it was a regional medical care site treating patients from Jamestown to Medora.
 
The name St. Alexius was partially inspired by St. Alexius, a saint known for his care of the sick sometime between the fifth and sixth centuries. Yet, it also was named to honor Abbott Alexius who helped the sisters secure the hotel building for a hospital. The name also honors Sister Alexia Kurst, who was named the first administrator of the hospital in 1885. 
 
Although their background was not medical, the sisters took a true leap of faith and started the first hospital on the frontier; the nearest was in St. Paul, Minn.

 Leadership of Sr. Boniface
 
Throughout its legacy, the hospital and now medical center, has committed to following the Rule of Benedict to treat all who enter as Christ and that care for the sick must rank above all else. At first, their treatment was primitive by today's standards, but evolved as the resourceful, caring sisters found better ways to serve the community and region. Their mission drove them to provide the best they could.
 
"That was the main purpose for the sisters who came out here. They knew they could care for the sick. They didn't have the nursing methods. I'm sure they used some of the old methods,” said Sister Susan Lardy, OSB, a former prioress of the community and president of board of directors at St. Alexius, as well as former mission coordinator at the facility. 

"The patients came with pneumonia, gunshot wounds, accidents with runaway horses, people who got injured on the railroad, from steamboats,” she said. "Our sisters have always been there for the poor, the sick, but always trying to offer the best for them.”

A formidable force in the hospital's early years was Sister Boniface Timmons, hospital administrator for some 42 years from arriving in 1892 until retiring in 1934. The name stands synonymous with the facility for good reason. Sister Susan said Sister Boniface carried a strong foresight to find a newer, better, bigger location for medical services, to upgrade practices and procedures, foster training for medical staff, build communication and install the latest equipment.
 
She also understood how important networking with similar facilities was, having founded the Catholic Hospital Association, later the Catholic Health Association. Its aim was not only to provide the best medical care by sharing resources and ideas, but to uphold the dignity of patients under the guidance of the organization’s ties with facilities around the country.
 
Under Sister Boniface's leadership, the hospital's board of trustees approved buying the current Ninth Street property. Groundbreaking was in 1914 and in 1915, the new St. Alexius Hospital opened with 150 beds and held the state's first nursery. The 1915 hospital site staffed 18 doctors. It was dedicated by western North Dakota's first Bishop Vincent Wehrle. That same year, a nursing school was opened with 11 students in its first class. Its first nursing class graduated in 1918.
 
In 1925, Boniface Hall was built to house nursing students on a site that is just east of where the existing emergency room area is located today. It was torn down in the late 1990s to make room for other medical advancements. Boniface Auditorium was completed in 2001 for meetings, large events and celebrations.
 
Sister Boniface proved resourceful in financing needs. Early in her leadership, she met with business leaders and state lawmakers weekly to fund the latest equipment advances, technology and even when payroll was scarce at times. She bought six telephones, even installing one in doctors' homes to ensure that medical care would be available when needed. Historical records state she saw to the replacement of iron stove heating systems with steam heating, kerosene lamps with electric lights and installed the electric light call system when patients needed help. In 1899, Dr. E.P. Quain introduced the aseptic and antiseptic sterilization methods to the hospital and Sister Boniface made this standard procedure. Quain later co-founded what became Bismarck Hospital with Dr. Niles Ramstad. With all her accomplishments, the nurses who worked for Sister Boniface described her as a servant leader above all.
 
It is difficult to convey just how hard the first sisters worked. With limited sleep, their off hours were often spent seeking funds to support the hospital from businesspeople and the community. There were even sightings of them using handcars to travel to railroad camps and army forts, hoping to catch the men before their paychecks were dissipated. 

In a 1985 interview, Agnes Guthrie, a member of the first nursing school graduating class, recalled their typical day: “In the early morning, we gave baths and medications and of course surgery was going on. We had to carry patients up to surgery and back downstairs to their rooms. I can still see them carrying the stretchers up and down the stairs.”

Elevators were also installed under Sr. Boniface’s guidance. 
 
The sisters often sent the bills to the county when patients were too poor, or the hospital would be paid with some jars of jelly or other food sources. Sister Boniface once sent sisters out to the community business leaders to pay for the bills and they came back with $800 within two hours, according to one historical account.

Ongoing education also was an early aim of Sister Boniface so the hospital staff would be the best trained to help patients via additional schooling. Staff attended meetings and learned the best techniques. That philosophy continued at St. Alexius throughout the decades.
 
Sister Boniface retired to St. Benedict’s convent in Minnesota in 1937 and died shortly after she retired. She undoubtably left a remarkable legacy for health care in Bismarck.
 
Foundation of Benedictine Sisters of Annunciation
 
With nearly 50 sisters staffing the hospital and 60 more teaching throughout Bismarck, Mandan and Dickinson, the sisters agreed with Bishop Ryan in the 1940s that perhaps a separate foundation of Benedictine Sisters here was merited. In 1947, Benedictine Sisters of Annunciation Monastery was officially recognized by Rome as a new independent unit and formally separated from the community of St Joseph’s in Minnesota. The Bismarck assets owned by the Benedictine sisters were transferred four years earlier to Bismarck sisters, including St. Alexius. Ground was broken that same year for the five-story north wing facing Rosser Avenue of St. Alexius Hospital for nearly $1.15 million. 
 
In 1959, Mary College, now the University of Mary, was founded by the Benedictine Sisters of the Annunciation as a four-year Christian, Catholic college offering degrees in nursing and education, with a focus on a liberal arts foundation. The St. Alexius School of Nursing became a part of Mary College School of Nursing, allowing for a four-year degree in nursing.
 
Sister Susan said the founders insisted that the college offer a four-year professional liberal arts degree to include other essential skills such as ethics, theology, speech, literature and writing in their backgrounds.
 
“What is key is that Benedictine values promoted at both St. Alexius and the University of Mary come together,” said Sister Susan.
 
Sister Mariah Dietz was a product of the new college. A former nurse in surgery and the hospital’s first intensive care, a teacher in clinicals and the classroom, she first came to the University of Mary as a nursing student in 1962.
 
“I was not planning on this. I had a nice boyfriend. The Lord had other plans. I fell in love with the sisters—the prayer and the way they loved one another and what they did,” Sister Mariah explained. 
 
She became a sister first before finishing her professional education, graduating from the University of Mary in 1969 in nursing. As an intensive care nurse, she found she really enjoyed helping students follow the principles of St. Benedict. 
 
“That was important to me,” she said. Sister Mariah followed up by obtaining her master’s degree in the early 1970s in Chicago and a doctorate in nursing in Washington D.C. Her accomplishments led to teaching nursing at the University of Mary, starting a nurse practitioner program and becoming dean of the nursing program.
 
“We taught nurses how to teach nurses,” she said. “At the time, the thrust of the nursing was conceptualization how to teach nursing in any department. You teach a concept and apply it; it’s still used today.”
 
Sister Mariah later became vice president of mission at the hospital. “My biggest job was making sure we followed the Benedictine principle to ‘receive all as Christ’ so, talking to, working with staff to make sure they lived their mission; talking to people coming in—anything that would enhance the mission.”
 
Though difficult to encapsulate everything CHI St. Alexius Health has accomplished over the past 140 years through specialized training, care, facilities, the dedication to caring for the sick, its mission pushes forward. Until 2013, St. Alexius remained independent of larger entities then becoming affiliated with Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI), a national health care system headquartered in Colorado.
 
Keith Horner, pharmacy director at St. Alexius, said the network of CHI has proven invaluable as the health care facilities can rely on one another for problem-solving, policy guidelines, finding resources and spark new ideas to better their programs.
 
"I sent emails to my leader pharmacist in Omaha, Nebraska. Twenty years ago, I would have had to wing it on my own. We have that support,” said Horner.
 
Over his 30 years in the pharmacy department, Horner has witnessed multiple advancements in the care, procedures and preventive medicine at CHI St. Alexius Health. An Ion robot-assisted procedure can offer far less invasive techniques for performing biopsies of lungs and other organs, for instance, noted Horner. Other advancements include the neonatal intensive care unit, kidney dialysis units, interventional cardiology, sophisticated cardiovascular care system, neurosurgery and neuro trauma center. The addition of urgent care facilities also filled a niche for patients who need quick attention to a medical issue. CHI St. Alexius Health continues to use the latest advances to ensure patients receive the best care, according to Horner.
 
Horner cites how St. Alexius branched out to other communities like Minot, Garrison, Mandan and Turtle Lake as a strong part of CHI St. Alexius providing whole medical care and foresees the medical facility will continue to foster overall care. The clinics and support of hospitals of the region drive a higher level of heath care for their patients, he said.
 
Despite joining a larger medical group, he insists the spirit of the Benedictine Sisters, and their love of Christ remains a strong influence throughout daily operations of the medical facility.
 
Presence of sisters
 
It saddens Sister Susan that there are less sisters physically present in the medical facility. Sixty years ago, there were 40 sisters in nearly every department. Yet, she said their presence endures, noting that the sisters still serve on policy making boards, as well as Sister Nancy Miller as mission coordinator, Sister Melissa Cote as a pharmacist and several sisters who volunteer there.
 
She credits sisters for the startup of physical therapy, the maternity upgrades, childcare, radiology tech school, certified registered nurse anesthetist training and more. Without the sisters’ contributions, the medical facility would not have endured nearly a century and a half, she said. The sisters regularly host special events for the staff and keep the staff in their prayers.
  
“We call ourselves sponsors, that way we can still have our model that ‘all be received as Christ,’” said Sister Susan. “If the sisters hadn't been there to provide with the desire to offer professional, up-to-date care, we wouldn't be there now. That was their goal. Sister Boniface was intent, and her successors were intent, on keeping people educated and up to date on what was happening with medical care around the country.”
 
Sister Susan said another reason for the success of the hospital is its strong partnership with the business community that was cultivated by Sr. Boniface that continues today.
 
Sister Mariah said the medical facility’s initial mission, following St. Benedict’s rule in both education or health care, has never wavered and is still witnessed today. She likens the sisters’ dedication to education and serving the sick as a calling much like their own to their vocation to religious life and says it is still experienced today. 
 
“The sisters came out here and started teaching the next day. They looked around and said, ‘oh my gosh, there is no health care! We can do this.’ And they did. A few years down the pike, they asked, ‘where do they educate women here?’ So, they created the university.”
 
People do feel the “difference” in a Catholic hospital, said Sister Mariah. “You should be able to walk in our hospital and feel the presence. People should greet you and ask how they can be of help. You should feel there is a prayer overhead. There is a lullaby when a baby is born. There are the little things that separate us from someone else. When I was in mission (at St. Alexius) I talked to every person who walked in and who worked for us or asked about how we must live our mission. Our mission is to serve people. Without the mission, it would be just another hospital.”
 
Unique are the daily reflection emails sent from Sister Nancy Miller, Mission Director, morning prayers given daily on the PA system and evening prayers at night, offers by nurses to pray for someone and people leaving messages at the hospital that the sisters pray for them, she added.
 
Sister Mariah is credited with helping develop a history wall featuring the journey of CHI St Alexius Health and the sisters’ involvement in the facility and its services. The wall came with renovations to the solarium in 2019. Physicians requested another history wall near the X-ray area.
 
Although many things have changed over the 140 years, Horner said the sisters’ presence remains on the board of directors, on the administrative team, at the “meet and greets” they host for staff, he said.
 
“From the operations standpoint, having the sisters here has always helped to stay focused on the mission of serving and providing health care needs. I see it as an opening beacon, that presence. Whenever in doubt, how would the sisters handle this? That’s an important piece,” said Horner. “Because their presence, the values of their ‘let all be received as Christ’ mission component drive it in a different way,” said Horner. “You have the business component, the health care and financial component, but overreaching is the mission component that the sisters bring to us on an ongoing basis.”
 
He said the mission, coupled its excellence in quality of health care, make the services provided at CHI St. Alexius “a health care ministry versus a health care job.” 
 
Because of this, patients get better care. Its ongoing commitment to training medical professionals remains a key component of care today said Horner.
 
“I am so proud of both St. A’s and the college,” said Sister Mariah speaking of the initiative of the Benedictine sisters. “I am so proud the community had the foresight, the willingness and the guts to say, ‘yes we will do this!’ This is a need. Saint Benedict said meet the needs of the people with whom you come in contact. That’s why we are here outside of being a religious order.”