16/03/2026
During Women’s History Month, we’re proud to honor the women whose vision helped shape health care in our communities.
In the late 1800s, the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth brought compassionate care to Colorado. Pioneering leaders like Mother Xavier Ross, Sr. Pancratia Bonfils, and Sr. Praxedes Carty helped establish hospitals that served growing communities and ensured people had access to care when they needed it most.
Decades later, as Denver’s health care needs continued to grow, sisters including Sr. Mary Pierre, Sr. Mary Asella, and Sr. Mary Keiran helped lead the planning for a new Saint Joseph Hospital campus in 1959. The hospital—known for its signature radial towers—opened in 1961 and continued the Sisters’ mission of caring for the community.
More than a century later, their legacy lives on across Intermountain Health hospitals along the Front Range. Every day, our caregivers carry forward the mission the Sisters set in motion: caring for people with compassion, dignity, and respect.
This Women’s History Month, we celebrate the generations of women whose courage and leadership helped build the foundation for the care we provide today. 💙
