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Sister Alice Hanks Sister Alice is one of 650 Medical Mission Sisters in 19 nations trying to be present to others in the spirit of Jesus the Healer. The youngest of 4 children, Sister Alice was born and raised in Swoyersville, Pennsylvania. She received her R.N. from Mercy Hospital School of Nursing in Wilkes-Barre, and worked with the Wyoming Valley Visiting Nurse Association for 6 years. After earning her B.S.N. from College Misericordia in Dallas, PA, she decided to enter our Community. Sister Alice’s first overseas assignment was to Berekum, Ghana, where for 7 years she served in the nursing school at Holy Family Hospital as Director of Nursing Education. “I really enjoyed being a part of the early days of this training in Ghana,” she recalls. “Our students were required to follow the British syllabus, so they took both the practical nursing exams as well as written exams.” She adds, “We were fortunate to have our first graduates remain in Berekum and Techiman to help with the staffing of our hospitals.” Sister Alice returned to the U.S. to become certified as a nurse-midwife. She was then assigned to direct the Nursing School at Holy Family Hospital in Berekum and also assist in nurse-midwifery training. Her next mission was to the Ernest Oppenheimer Hospital in Welkom, South Africa, where she worked in nursing education. After returning to the Philadelphia area in 1971, Sister Alice served for the next 20 years as a skilled home health care nurse and taught at the Misericordia Hospital School of Nursing and at Northeastern Hospital School of Nursing. She then moved to San Diego, where she continued part-time nursing for several years with Collaborative Ministries, an outreach of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange. Sister also volunteered in a library and elementary school…service that led to her being named Volunteer of the Month by the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program of San Diego. Sister Alice now lives at our North American Headquarters in Philadelphia. “Mission for me means being present to the Sisters with whom I live…I also appreciate their mutual support and caring for my presence. Together I feel we ‘make’ mission through uniting our efforts, with similar aspirations toward our Almighty God.”
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