Providence Mount St. Vincent administrators past and present were there this afternoon to celebrate the dedication of The Mount’s newly expanded Transitional Care Unit. At left is Sister Rita Ferschweiler, who gave the blessing at this afternoon’s ceremony, photographed with current administrator Tom Mitchell. Sister Rita has been a Sister of Providence since 1944, when she was in her mid-20s, and came to West Seattle in 1977 to become administrator of The Mount. This expansion means the facility now has 58 beds for “transitional care,” explained as what’s needed by some people who are out of the hospital after surgery or treatment but still need time to recover, rehabilitate, and go through therapy before they can transition back into their regular lives. The services are now headquartered on The Mount’s 5th floor, where today’s ceremony happened:

From left, Providence’s Laurie Corrington, Renee Fowler, and Ken Wolcott; Kees Cusveller from Graham Construction, and Steve Anderson from Providence. Previously, The Mount had 20 beds for this kind of care, so its capacity is tripled. A fact-sheet provided by Providence says it’s the only part of The Mount where they have “patients” rather than “residents.”