Encyclopedia Dubuque
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
HElD, Mary Corita (Sister)
HEID, Mary Corita (Sister). (Pocahantas, IA, May 25, 1937- ). Sister Heid received a bachelor of science in nursing degree from Mercy College of Detroit and in 1970 a master of arts degree in hospital and health administration from the University of Iowa. (1) She spent a summer as an administrative assistant in Denver, Colorado at Mercy Hospital and then moved to St. Joseph's Mercy Hospital in Sioux City as the assistant administrator.
In 1972 Sister Heid became the president of ST. JOSEPH'S MERCY HOSPITAL and finalized the merger of St. Joseph's with the Dyersville Community Hospital which had been facing economic problems. The Dyersville Hospital was renamed the St. Mary's Unit of MERCY HEALTH CENTER. The controversial merger with the Dyersville Hospital had just been completed when the Sisters of Saint Francis inquired about consolidation of XAVIER HOSPITAL and Mercy. A letter of intent to merge was signed within three months. (2)
Heid assisted in having Mercy designated the Northwest Illinois Trauma Center and saw that a cardiac catheterization laboratory and programs in neuro-surgery and open-heart surgery were established. The same year she was one of nineteen members of the Iowa Governor's Task Force on Early Childhood Development. The task force was in the process of writing rules regulating day care centers at a time when the only regulation was that the operator had to be twenty-one years of age. (3) Under her direction, a day-care center was opened for the children of Mercy Medical Center employees in hopes that information could be provided to the task force. (4)
Sister Heid served as chairwoman of the board of the reorganized Sisters of Mercy Health Corporation, the largest non-profit hospital organization in the United States, for four years; past-chairwoman of the Governing Council of Multi-Hospital Constituencies for the American Hospital Association; and was a member of the board of directors of Blue Cross of Iowa. (5) In 1981 she served as the head of the Iowa Hospital Association's board of trustees. Sister Heid was named president in 1986 of the Sister of Mercy Health Corporation which provided health care services through twenty-three hospitals in Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and New York. (6) Replacing her at the Mercy Health Center was Sister Helen HUEWE,OSF.
In 1975 Sister Heid was in the first class of women to receive certificates of leadership sponsored by the Dubuque YWCA Achievement Awards Council. At the time, she was the administrator of MERCY MEDICAL CENTER and the second vice-chairman of the Iowa Hospital Association. (7)
A member of the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, Sister Mary Corita Heid, RSM, had extensive experience. From 1970 - 1993, Sister Corita held positions in nursing, hospital administration, and corporate management in Mercy Health Services and then Trinity Health. In 1994 she transitioned from Management to full time Governance on local boards of Trinity Health.
Sister Corita also served on the Health System Board, Chairperson of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth (Kansas) for three years, and ten years on the Providence Health & Services Board, of Seattle, Washington. Sister Corita held a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Mercy College of Detroit and a Masters in Health Care Administration from the University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa.
In 2021 Sister Corita serve on the Iowa - Nebraska Regional Health Ministry Board of Trinity Health as Vice-Chairperson. Her service on the Covenant Health Board began on January 1, 2015. Sister Corita lived in Mason City, Iowa where she was available to serve as a Certified Spiritual Director for persons in the area. (8)
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Source:
1. "Heid Named Mercy Corp. President," Telegraph Herald, May 2, 1986, p. 43
2. Brimeyer, Jack. "Mercy Plans Day Care Center," Telegraph-Herald, December 6, 1974, p. 5
3. "Day Care Center Rules in Making," Telegraph-Herald, December 5, 1974, p. 14
4. Brimeyer
5. Shaffer, David. "Nun's Specialty: Hospital Administration," Telegraph Herald, January 27, 1986
6. "Heid Named..."
7. "Dubuque Women Recognized," Telegraph Herald, April 30, 1975, p. 19
8. Covenant Health. Online: https://www.covenanthealth.ca/corporate-information/board-of-directors/sr-mary-corita-heid-rsm