St. Rose Ambulatory & Surgery Center used its recent monthly employee-appreciation event to celebrate the Feast Days of St. Dominic and St. Rose of Lima. The special days are Aug. 8 and Aug. 23, respectively.

"We recognized our exceptional employees who live our core values and we thought it would be inspirational to observe these Feast Days at the same time," said Mary Klinge, St. Rose director of mission integration. "St. Dominic was the founder of the Dominican Order in 1216 and the Dominican Sisters founded St. Rose Hospital in 1903."

St. Rose became Central Kansas Medical Center in 1964 and earlier this year the name changed to St. Rose Ambulatory & Surgery Center.

"Now that we have returned to our roots, we decided to have this special celebration," Klinge said. "The Dominican Sisters received a special invitation."

Approximately 75 people attended the event in the St. Rose atrium.

Klinge shared information about the saints with the group. St. Dominic de Guzman was born in Spain and is referred to as a Gospel man of prayer.

"The Dominican Sisters are called to praise, bless and preach," Klinge commented. "The designation "OP" following the sisters’ names stands for Order of Preachers."

St. Rose was born into a poor but upper-class family in Peru. "She had a difficult childhood and her life is like that of a rose among thorns," Klinge said. "We want to encourage people to practice the virtues of St. Rose – cheerfulness, compassion and commitment to healing the sick."