Sisterhood of St. John the Divine
The Sisters of St. John the Divine are a growing community of 40 women, founded in Toronto, Canada in 1884. The Sisters are a prayer and gospel-centred monastic community, nurtured by our founding vision, open and responsive to the needs of the church and the contemporary world, continually seeking guidance of the Holy Spirit in our life and ministry.
Pioneers in health care since 1885, the Sisters opened St. John's Convalescent Hospital in 1936 as Ontario's first hospital focusing on rehabilitation care. The Sisterhood continued to administer and manage Ontario's most comprehensive, and specialized rehabilitation hospital, until June 1996 when the hospital appointed its first layperson chief executive officer.
Today members of the Sisterhood continue to play a vital role on the hospital's Board of Directors, senior management team, and other administrative positions such as the hospital library. As pastoral visitors, the sisters are members of the patient care teams, and help provide spiritual care through personal visits with all patients.