Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach

You can now watch Mission Outreach’s executive director Erica Smith give her acceptance speech at the 2026 Catholic Health Assembly!

Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach Acceptance Speech (Assembly 2026) Erica Smith, MA, MPH, accepts the Achievement Citation award on beh...

This group of Mission Outreach staff and volunteers left this morning for a trip to visit our partners at St. Joseph Hospital in Moshi, Tanzania. When we began working with this hospital three years ago, they were a much smaller hospital. This weekend, they will be opening their brand new six story hospital with two floors being dedicated to Mother & Baby. We couldn’t be more happy for them, and we love that some of our staff and volunteers get to join in on this amazing opening ceremony! Please keep this group in your prayers for safe travels. 💙

We’re still so amazed and thankful for last night! Thank you to all who support Mission Outreach. 💙

Last night, we were honored and blessed to be awarded The Catholic Health Association of the United States 2026 Achievement Citation award. We’re blown away by the amount of support and genuine excitement from everyone, but this award isn’t just our staff’s. This award also belongs to every one of our volunteers who tirelessly give their time, energy, and immense amount of work every single week. It also belongs to every donor and supporter of Mission Outreach. You all are who make this work possible.

And thank you to CHA for creating this beautiful video of Mission Outreach! There is no one who could have done a better job at capturing the heart of our mission than you.

Keep following along for more photos and videos of the night!

2026 Achievement Citation: Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach Winner of the Catholic Health Association's 2026 Achievement Citati...

Mission Outreach partnered with the Rashid S. Conteh Memorial Foundation and TRIMEDX Foundation on this container headed to the Evans Medical Center in Lungi, Sierra Leone.

Dr. Hassan Sesay, Chief Executive Officer of the Evans Medical Center, said, “Healthcare in our community has been deplorable since the war. This donated equipment will definitely create a big impact on healthcare in Sierra Leon, especially in the Lungi community. An ultrasound machine alone can attract a lot of people. The last ultrasound machine we received did a lot of work. We scanned over 3,000 patients with that machine, and every Wednesday and Sunday we continue to scan not less than 50 patients. The people appreciate the little we can do for their healthcare. With this new equipment, we are definitely going to move forward and help a lot of people.”

Thank you to all of our donors and volunteers for their support with this container!

Thank you to all who have served and still serve. 💙

EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT!!!

Erica Smith has been the executive director of Mission Outreach since February 2022, but she has been involved in one way or another since 2009. She was also an intern here for a semester in 2017 after she received her MPH. Erica had the following to say about Mission Outreach: “My favorite thing about Mission Outreach is our team here. I admire each of them as individuals and marvel at how successful they are working together. They make me better at my job. My equally favorite thing about Mission Outreach is that we are connected to the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis. The Franciscan charism, and the Sisters, have been a force for good in my life that has shaped me personally and professionally.”

Erica’s favorite thing to do in her free time is to hike! She loves discovering new trails as well as revisiting our beautiful local ones. Her favorites though were the Coast to Coast in England (190 miles) as well as the Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim hike. Her dream is to do the entire Way of St. Francis hike in Italy. Erica’s favorite hobbies are theatre and storytelling. She began a storytelling guild in Springfield a few years ago called The Top Hat Tellers and would love to revive it. Erica was also a local history tour guide downtown at the Lincoln Sites and has played Harriet Knudson (founder of Lincoln Memorial Garden) at events. She loves her history, but more specifically local history. Erica also loves to read, garden (flowers mostly), and absolutely adores her dog (Betty) and two cats (Heidi and Dennis Marie – Dennis is in fact a female).

If Erica could go on an all expenses paid vacation, she would go to Japan to hike in the Kamokochi, see Mount Fuji, and stay in a ryokan. If she could move anywhere in the world, she would get a place in Northern California near the ocean (her other two options would be Nova Scotia or England). Erica said, “Really, though, I don’t want to live anywhere but central Illinois. I belong on the prairie.” Erica would love to have dinner with John Quincy Adams. “He was a terrible president and not very successful; but he learned valuable lessons from that failure and started over even when others thought he was done and should quit.” She admires his humility, courage, tenacity, and how brilliant he was.

Erica brings so much creativity, life, and joy to Mission Outreach – we really have no idea what we would do without her. Her dedication to the mission is unmatched and we’re so lucky to have her on our team. There’s also no one wittier than her so it definitely makes for fun days! Let’s show Erica some love!! 💙

Our first "million dollar" shipment Mission Outreach sends first shipment valued at $1 million to hospitals in Bolivia to improve access to life-saving surgery