“When I first joined the Mercy Health Board, someone told me: it will get under your skin,” recalls former Board Member Sr Joan Wilson RSM. “They were right; I am no longer on the Board but when I talk about Mercy Health I still use the words ‘we’ and ‘our’.”
“Working with the Mercy Health Board directors was for me an example of a truly Catholic Church agency in the Mercy tradition: good governance structure, transparency and accountability.”
Sr Joan and Ms Agnes Sheehan both served on the Mercy Health Board for almost a decade until November 2018. The period saw significant growth in Mercy Health’s aged care footprint, including most recently the merger with Southern Cross Care (Vic).
L-R: Mercy Health Foundation Chairman Julien O’Connell AM (former Chairman, Mercy Health); Mercy Health Chair Virginia Bourke; former Board members Agnes Sheehan and Sr Joan Wilson RSM; and Mercy Health Group Chief Executive Officer Adjunct Professor Stephen Cornelissen.
“In today’s world, the aged are the new poor,” Sr Joan says. “Catherine McAuley was always alert to the needs of the time; one of the needs of our time is the proper care of the aged.”
Sr Joan regularly visits other Sisters of Mercy in Mercy Health aged care homes, including Mercy Place Rice Village in Geelong and the organisation’s first purposebuilt small household living development, Mercy Place Ballarat.
“Small household living seems to be working very well in Ballarat,” Sr Joan says. “The Sisters are quite settled there and their presence in the home is important.”
When people are energised and committed, they inspire others around them — Sr Joan
Sr Joan says Mercy Health is exemplary for the dedication of its people: “When people are energised and committed, they inspire others around them,” Sr Joan says.
“I count my years on the Board of Mercy Health as a time of very rich blessing and I will for the rest of my life pray for those who minister in the name of Mercy Health.”
Agnes similarly reflected on the energy and passion of her fellow Board members, as well as the many Sisters whose counsel she sought over the years, in particular Sr Kath Tierney RSM, Sr Joan Wilson RSM and Sr Helen Monkivitch RSM AO. “It is very humbling to reflect on my 9.5 years of service as a Board director when I compare this to the lifetime of service that all Sisters of Mercy have given to the vulnerable and those in need here in Australia,” Agnes says.
Agnes says the Board was driven by a desire to share the Mercy charism and respond to the needs of the poor and vulnerable, which resulted in the organisation expanding into Queensland and Western Australia.
“We were all dedicated to go where we felt there was a need and where we were wanted,” she says.
Agnes believes the expansion delivered the necessary scale to ensure long-term sustainability and influence. “Mercy Health’s voice was never so important to the Catholic Church in Australia than it is now,” she says.
Agnes says she joined the Board wanting to make a difference, and left as a friend. “I remain forever grateful to the Executives, health professionals, carers and staff in Mercy Health who continue the legacy of Mercy Health; your success reflects your compassion and care for others,” she says.
Last reviewed October 24, 2019.