'Healing Thanksgiving' Project Features Mazer/Smith Music
Hospital system chooses CD to provide hope, joy, comfort, & solitude to its community

November 16, 2001 – St. Peter’s Health Care Services in Albany, NY, is giving away 1,000 "Crossroads of the Heart" CDs to families 200 miles away in the New York City area torn apart by the September 11 attacks. The CDs are part of a project called “A Healing Thanksgiving” -- St. Peter’s way of helping these families cope with their first holiday without their loved ones who were killed in the attacks.

“We realized that Thanksgiving – a truly American celebration and a time to honor the gift of families and friends – would be one of the first major holidays following the September 11 tragedy, “ says Sister Gail Waring, RSM, Vice President for Mission Services at St. Peter’s Health Care Services. “We are offering these gifts, which we hope will diminish some of the pain from the absence of some deeply loved ones on this day.”

The CDs of healing music are part of a “Healing Thanksgiving” basket that includes a book of prayers and reflections written by the health system’s chaplains; candles, Thanksgiving napkins and plates; and personal items donated by hospital staff. Each basket also contains a personal note of caring from a member of the St. Peter’s staff. “It is our desire that those deeply impacted by these events will find hope, joy and a few moments of comfort and solitude, in this tranquil music,” Sister Waring adds.

The "Crossroads of the Heart" includes the music of Harpist Susan Mazer and Woodwind Performer Dallas Smith, founders of Healing Healthcare Systems. It was originally produced for Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney, Nebraska. “This CD reflects the many points of living that bring joy, play, contemplation, and wholeness,” explains Mazer, President of Healing HealthCare Systems. “It is a collection of inspired personal moments that mirror the diversity and richness of the spirit found in the creative process and intended to support of the healing process.”

“The music expresses the passing moments of life transformed and made everlasting when the heart of one person reaches out to heal another,” she adds.

Founded in 1992, Healing HealthCare Systems produces The C.A.R.E. Channel and other products and services that assist healthcare organizations in creating and sustaining clinical environments that are directly supportive of healing and recovery. HHS is currently serving hospitals in over 35 states

St. Peter’s Health Care Services (SPHCS) of Albany, New York, was established by the Religious Sisters of Mercy in 1985 with components that date back to 1869. Led by St. Peter’s Hospital, a 442-bed acute care facility, the SPHCS system includes St. Peter’s Hospital Foundation; St. Peter’s Addiction Recovery Center (SPARC,) a 40-bed addiction services center; Our Lady of Mercy Life Center, a 160-bed residential care facility; The Villa Mary Immaculate, a 160-bed skilled nursing facility; Mercy Cares for Kids, a child day care center; The Community Hospice, serving patients in residential facilities, hospitals and at home in six counties; and St. Peter’s Auxiliary, Inc.

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