Sister Doris Gottemoeller was a high school chemistry and math teacher before entering religious life. In that capacity, she has played an instrumental role in the growth of Catholic health care. For example, Sister Doris contributed to the establishment of the Mercy Health hospital system.
Seth Sandronsky: Who were your role models growing up?
Sister Doris: I grew up in Cleveland, the oldest of four daughters. I guess my role models were my parents, who demonstrated love and security and family prayer. When I was in high school, we moved to a new parish where there were Sisters of Mercy of America, who made a big impression on me. There was a young priest, Jack McDonogh, who gathered a group of young high school girls together for a bi-weekly discussion group, which kindled my desire for prayer.
SS: Please describe your experience with the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, based in Silver Spring, Maryland, a global organization of Roman Catholic women.
SD: I was its first president from 1991 to 1999. We merged 17 other congregations. We were 7,000 sisters and active across the country, from Maine to California, in addition to 13 other countries. As the first president, I spent a lot of time visiting all those places and working on different projects with the sisters. I also met with leadership teams during my time as president while rolling out new projects.
SS: Can you share an example of a new project that you worked on during your presidency of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas?
SD: We worked on finance and investing programs for all communities to have equal access. Our aim was to invest wisely in a way that equally resourced participants.
SS: What did you do upon finishing your presidency with the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas?
SD: Oh, my goodness. (She chuckles.) I finished my term in 1991, and the first thing that I did was to take a three-month sabbatical in the Holy Land. This was a part of the Catholic Theological Union Program. It was just a wonderful experience. For example, I studied the Old and New testaments.
SS: What did you do next in your professional life?
SD: I took a position in Cincinnati with Bon Secours Mercy Health as senior vice president for mission integration. That involved working with hospitals and markets across several states, including senior leadership, boards and directors, from 2000 to 2013.
SS: Where did you do following that experience as a senior administrator with Bon Secours Mercy Health?
SD: I have worked with Mercy volunteers in Cincinnati since 2013. I have also done some tutoring, and worked for other education and health systems and served on many boards.
SS: What surprised you the most in your Catholic health care experience over the decades?
SD: I would say the commitment of so many people, lay and religious, to our mission of Catholic health care has always been heartening to me. Likewise, working with health system boards, lay and religious, I have always found them to be dedicated to the mission of Catholic health care.
SS: How do you see the future of Catholic health care in the United States?
SD: I see the future of Catholic health care as very strong. I think that there are dedicated people and great resources across the 620 Catholic hospitals in the United States. We have the largest market share and are the biggest provider of health care to the American population. All of our hospitals are committed to serving the poor and making health care affordable to as many people as we can.
SS: Many nursing orders, facing a shortage of young women taking up vocations as nuns, have turned over administration of their hospitals to health care corporations. In Austin, Texas, the Daughters of Charity operated the main Catholic hospital until about 20 years ago, when they turned it over to Ascension Health, which operates 140 non-profit and Catholic hospitals in the US. Can you comment on the strengths and weaknesses of this process for patients and providers?
SD: Your question is based on some faulty assumptions. First of all, religious communities didn’t ‘turn over’ our hospitals to corporations. We founded the corporations. We continue to sponsor them via a religious model that is accountable to the Vatican in most cases. Or in some cases, to a local bishop.
That said, the advantages of systems are numerous. Here are a few that come to mind:
• A larger system facilitates the recruitment and development of talented leaders.
• A system is able to economize by purchasing all supplies through united contracts which enable negotiating the prices.
• A system (in contrast to an individual hospital) has larger cash reserves which can be invested to the benefit of the ministry.
• A system can invest more in employee development, in mission formation, in policy development and implementation in line with the overall mission and Catholic identity.
SS: Wrapping up, please share with us your vision of the common good in and out of health care.
SD: Nothing is so easy to say and hard to realize as the common good. There is probably no person who does not affirm the common good. Yet achieving it is incredibly difficult. What would we have to do to achieve the common good in health care, access for everybody, immigrants, the poor, all races? What would we have to do? What are we willing to do to achieve it? For everyone who aspires to the common good in health, education and housing, I ask what would you do to achieve such outcomes? What sacrifices would you be personally willing to make to further the common good?
SS: Thank you for your time, Sister Doris.
SD: You are welcome.
Seth Sandronsky lives and works in Sacramento. He is a journalist and member of the Pacific Media Workers Guild. Email sethsandronsky@gmail.com.
From The Progressive Populist, February 15, 2024
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