 At the end of the war the hospital was returned to the city and the Sisters opened St John's Infirmary for those soldiers with no place to go, but not yet strong enough to travel.The Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods were the first congregation of American women religious to establish a mission in China.In the summer of 1919, Bishop Joseph Tacconi of Kaifeng, China, met with Sisters of Providence general superior Mother Mary Cleophas Foley to request sisters for a school for young women in Kaifeng.