Haga clic aquí para leer esta paginación en Español.

Our Founder

Sister Eleanor Gilmore serves as the Director of the El Salvador Health Mission, and lives in San Salvador, El Salvador, Central America.

As both director and founder, she has the opportunity to live the PeaceHealth and CSJP mission by helping to bring a healing culture to the poor of El Salvador through her own work and that of volunteers.

In her own words:

I believe the care of the sick is integral to being a Christian. Jesus was a healer in every way - whether curing people of physical illness, or just relating to them in a way that allowed them to be the most whole and complete person they were meant to be. He was totally committed to freeing women and men from whatever prevented this - relationships or oppressive social and religious structures and customs. Today is a particularly encouraging time in health care - in spite of all the realities of a competitive marketplace - because we are committed to the reality that healing must deal with all facets of the human person and personality. It is inspiring that so many persons in our system are committed to this mission and vision of healing and wellness.

By Way of Background

A Seattle, WA, native, Sister Eleanor received a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Seattle University, followed by a Diploma in Nursing at Sacred Heart School of Nursing, in Eugene, OR. Her tenure with the PeaceHealth System began in 1963, when she was Operating Supervisor at Sacred Heart, in Eugene, OR.

She left the operating room (which she loved) to study for a Master in Hospital Administration from St. Louis University, MO, including a year residency in Boston. After completing her studies, Sister Eleanor returned to the Pacific Northwest to assume administration of St. John Hospital, in Longview, WA. Between 1967 and 1982, she served twice as Administrator of St. John; however, both terms were interrupted by elections to positions in the Sisters of St. Joseph. Her first appointment sent Sister Eleanor to the Congregation Office in Washington, DC, for four years. For the second appointment, she served as Province Leader in Bellevue, WA, for five years.

In 1988, following her Province service in 1988, Sister Eleanor had the privilege of ministering for five years in a Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) health program in El Salvador. Before she left she took a sabbatical year at Berkeley for a Certificate of Theological Studies.

The majority of volunteers with JRS worked in northern El Salvador in re-population villages - those re-populated by El Salvadorans, who because of the violence and level of war in their areas of the country, were forced to flee north to Honduras. Most of them had lived there eight to 10 years, eventually in three camps under the auspices of the UNHCR (United Nations High Command for Refugees).

Sister Eleanor had expected to live and work in one of these villages. However, because of the enlarging void in the provision of health and social needs of rural populations, she was asked by JRS to start-up the coordination of health services in the capital for people the JRS had ongoing contact with in the re-population villages. Because of this void and her experience in health care, she was asked by JRS to set-up the coordination of health services in the capital for people the JRS had ongoing contact with who were coming in from the villages.

She continued this work with Sister Margaret Byrne of the Sacred Heart Province until March of 1993, when they turned over the project to the "Concertacion de Salud," a network of social and health care providers who had leadership among the popular parties supporting the refugee communities.

In October 1993, Sister Eleanor returned to the U.S. to again resume service with PeaceHealth. From 1993 until November 2000, she worked with various persons and divisions of PeaceHealth to design and integrate the mission and values components into all possible levels of organizational decision-making and programs (like organization development/human resources, business development, finance, physician education). She has also maintained a close working relationship with Province leadership of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace in evaluating the level of values integration at PeaceHealth.

For many years, Sister Eleanor also participated on the following governance boards: Corporate Board of PeaceHealth; PeaceHealth Lower Columbia Region, Longview, WA; and Mercy Healthcare System, Roseburg, OR (a member of Catholic Health Initiatives).

© El Salvador Health Mission