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Catholic Health East Names New Board Members

Newtown Square, Pa., Friday, February 5, 2010 – Catholic Health East (CHE) has announced the appointment of three new members to its board of directors: Sr. Avril Chin-Fatt, O.S.F., Mary Catherine Karl, and Sr. Barbara M. Wheeley, R.S.M., Ph.D. Their three-year terms were effective January, 2010.

TSr. Avril Chin-Fatt, O.S.F., serves as the sponsors council representative to the board; she is the congregational minister for the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany, NY. She also is a member of Allegany Franciscan Ministries, CHE’s mission and ministry committee, and the governing board of the Third Order Regular Franciscan Common Novitiate. Sr. Avril earned a B.S. in elementary education from St. Bonaventure University and a M.A. in mathematics education from Boston College. A teacher and administrator in Jamaica, she served on several school boards and was a member of the Joint Board of Teacher Education in Jamaica.

SSr. Avril has served in several elected positions of leadership in the congregation serving as regional minister for Jamaica; general councilor of the congregation; and in her current role as the congregational minister. She is a member of the Franciscan Federation (US), International Franciscan Conference of the Third Order Regular, Leadership Conference of Women Religious, and the International Union of Superiors General. In 2008 Sr. Avril received an honorary doctor of humane letters from St. Bonaventure University.

SMary Catherine Karl, who also chairs CHE’s compliance and audit committee, brings extensive experience in the business world to her new governance role at CHE. She served in many leadership roles at Times Publishing Company, including chief financial officer, executive in charge of human resources, information systems, purchasing, and strategic planning; she also served as a member of the company’s board of directors, including roles as treasurer and secretary. Before that, she was a director of internal audit for the City of Tampa, and, prior to that, she was a senior auditor for Arthur Andersen and Co. Karl earned her M.B.A., and her B.S., in accounting from the University of South Florida and she is a certified public accountant in the state of Florida. She is an active member of many boards including the audit subcommittee for the BayCare Heath System, Clearwater, Fla.; she also serves as chair, BayCare Health System Insurance LTD, and was the former chair, BayCare Health System Board of Directors.

She has served on many community boards in various roles including, past chairman for Pinellas County United Way, past president for St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce; past president for American Stage; and past president for International Newspaper Financial Executives.

Sr. Barbara M. Wheeley, R.S.M., is CHE’s sponsors council coordinator, and currently serves on the leadership team, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, South Central Community, Belmont, North Carolina. She is the past president of the former Sisters of Mercy, Regional Community of Baltimore, Maryland. She serves on the board of Mercy Medical in Daphne, Ala., a regional health corporation of CHE, and had previously served on the Eastern Mercy Health System Board of Directors. Sr. Barbara served as regional community councilor and was previously a clinical psychologist at Plotkin & Sack, P.A., in Baltimore and director of the employee assistance program at the Cardinal Shehan Center, also in Baltimore. She also served as a high school principal and as a mathematics and religion teacher in both elementary and secondary schools.

Sr. Barbara earned an A.B. degree in mathematics, secondary education, from Mount Saint Agnes College in Baltimore, a master’s degree in liberal arts from The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, an M.S. degree as a human development liaison specialist, and a Ph.D. degree in community/clinical psychology from George Peabody College of Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

“We are honored to have these distinguished individuals join our board of directors. Their impressive credentials, life experiences, and extensive expertise in diverse fields such as education, religious leadership, and financial expertise will serve us well as we strive to meet the challenges of the future,” said Bob Stanek, CHE’s president and chief executive officer.

Catholic Health East, a multi-institutional Catholic health system co-sponsored by nine religious congregations and Hope Ministries, is based in Newtown Square, Pa. Catholic Health East provides the means to ensure the continuation of the Catholic identity and operational strength of the Sponsors’ health ministries, which are located in 11 eastern states from Maine to Florida. The system includes 34 acute-care hospitals, four long-term acute-care hospitals, 36 freestanding and hospital-based long-term care facilities, 12 assisted-living facilities, five continuing-care retirement communities, seven behavioral-health and rehabilitation facilities, 25 home health/hospice agencies and numerous ambulatory and community-based health services. More information is available on the CHE website at www.che.org.

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