The Daughters of Charity, Catholic Hospitals, and the Expansion of American Healthcare

For more than two centuries, the Daughters of Charity quietly worked to shape the institutions that became the backbone of American healthcare. Drawing on his experience as a healthcare attorney and his expertise in health policy and health administration, Carl F. Ameringer offers the first comprehensive history of the Daughters’ healthcare apostolate in the United States, from the founding of their first ministry in 1823 to the transfer of their extensive hospital network in 2012.

Donning their distinctive white-winged cornettes, the Daughters served the sick poor during wars and epidemics, economic recessions and urbanization, founding more than fifty hospitals nationwide. Ameringer shows how they navigated major transformations in medicine and society while overcoming prejudice against women and Catholics and opposition from clergy, physicians, and politicians along the way.

The Daughters of Charity, Catholic Hospitals, and the Expansion of American Healthcare reveals the scale and significance of the Daughters’ contribution to American healthcare and traces a legacy that continues to influence the field today.