During a memorial dedication ceremony in December, Pennsylvania Hospital commemorated the life of Rosemary Del Conte, the beloved Business Services manager at Hall-Mercer Community Mental Health Center who passed away last spring. Staff members joined Del Conte’s sisters outside of the Harte Memorial Building to share memories of her incomparable work ethic and to unveil a birdbath installed in her honor. Known as “Roe” to the colleagues and patients she met over her 41-year career at PAH, she often fed the birds outside her office window and showed the same kindness to every person she met.
Del Conte was personally invested in Hall-Mercer’s success. She labeled every office supply in the building with her own name, and she and her sisters came in over the weekend to check that everything was in order before an inspection, even cleaning the bathrooms themselves. Going above and beyond every day was Del Conte’s default, and because she always had the information you needed — or could swiftly connect you with the right person — she played an integral role in ensuring her coworkers could seamlessly care for patients.
“Roe lived and breathed Hall-Mercer. She redefined what it meant to be committed to a job,” said Jody Foster, MD, MBA, chair of Psychiatry at PAH. “None of us who knew her will ever forget the deep sadness we felt as her illness took her away from us. Losing Roe has left a great hole that has never been filled, but with this memorial, we immortalize her memory.”