St. Mary's Hospital, which is under the Hualien diocese of the Catholic Church and whose mission is "to serve the poor," emerged as a staunch ally of Aboriginal communities in the course of the August 8 disaster, building on the foundation of personal relationships laid in the process of St. Mary's long-running program of sending medical personnel into villages to provide at-home medical care.
隸屬天主教花蓮教區、以「為窮人服務」為宗旨的台東聖母醫院，在此次救災過程中成為原住民部落的堅實戰友，靠的是聖母醫院長期深入台東鄉間、從事「居家照護方案」所奠定的人脈網絡。