Long before Medicare or Medicaid, women and men religious of the local Catholic church in New Orleans ministered to the sick.<\/span><\/p>\n Nearly 300 years ago \u2013 one year after their arrival in New Orleans from France in 1727 \u2013 the Ursuline Sisters undertook as their ministries education and the care of orphans. The Ursulines were the pioneers, followed by many other religious communities of women and men, who left their charitable mark on the community, especially in caring for the many children orphaned by the virulent epidemics of the 19th century.<\/span><\/p>\n The Ursulines essentially were the forerunner of what today is Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans, which was formally established in 1924 and continues to serve the homeless, women who need prenatal care and those requiring mental-health counseling.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Congregations of religious women have been on the front lines of health care in New Orleans since its founding. In 1832 and 1833, a severe cholera epidemic overtook the city, and the newly arrived Daughters of Charity nursed many of the thousands of patients. As a result of their dedication, the sisters were asked to assume control of the New Orleans Charity Hospital in 1834-1835.<\/span><\/p>\n Sister Stanislaus Malone, who died in 1949, served at Charity for 63 years and founded the school of anesthesiology there. Physicians said Sister Stanislaus helped introduce antiseptics into general use at Charity. She also wheedled money out of the federal government to complete the 20-story, 3,500-bed, $21 million new Charity Hospital in 1939.<\/span><\/p>\n In the 1850s, Archbishop Antoine Blanc desired a Catholic hospital for New Orleans. Dr. Warren Stone, Louisiana pioneer in the use of ether, asked the Daughters of Charity to staff a private infirmary he wished to open. Known first as \u201cMaison de Sant\u00e9,\u201d it opened in 1859 and later became incorporated in larger quarters as \u201cHotel Dieu\u201d \u2013 meaning the \u201cHouse of God.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n When the Civil War broke out, the Daughters of Charity volunteered to nurse wounded soldiers from both sides in the field. The sisters\u2019 sponsorship of Hotel Dieu lasted for 133 years until the state assumed control in 1992 and renamed it University Hospital.<\/span><\/p>\n