Sisters of St. Francis Health Services Chairperson of the Board

Receives Indiana Hospital & Health Association’s Award of Merit

Sisters of St. Francis Health Services, Inc., Chairperson of the Board, Sister Jane Marie Klein, received the Indiana Hospital & Health Association’s 2005 Award of Merit on Sept. 13. The award is Indiana’s highest honor for outstanding service to the healthcare field and is awarded to those who have demonstrated a devotion to the interests and goals of hospitals and the humanitarian services they provide.

IHHA Board Chairman Douglas Leonard presented the award saying, “For her innumerable contributions to the welfare of the communities she has served, for her commitment to service to the poor, and for her outstanding leadership as an administrator and trustee, IHHA is pleased to present its 2005 Award of Merit to Sister Jane Marie Klein.”

The Award of Merit pays tribute to Sister Jane Marie who has spent her professional life ministering to the healthcare needs of communities in three states. For 40 years, Sister Jane Marie served healthcare organizations in the areas of accounting, social work, administration, and governance.
“Clearly she has had a calling to improve the quality of life of thousands in need of care,” Leonard said.

Sister Jane Marie received her baccalaureate degree from St. Louis University and her master’s degree in social work from Loyola University in Chicago. She then earned a certificate in executive development in healthcare administration from Ohio State University.

She was an accountant in hospitals in Logansport and Terre Haute and director of social services in a Louisville hospital. Her administrative career included leadership positions at Sisters of St. Francis Health Services, Inc., hospitals in Lafayette, Michigan City, Hammond, and Dyer, and she now oversees policy and practice for the Sisters of St. Francis Health Services’ 12 hospital campuses in two states.

Sister Jane Marie pioneered the merger of two diverse hospital cultures in Indiana when she integrated organizations in Northwest Indiana in 1991. She told Hospitals magazine at the time that “The only way we’re going to provide the best healthcare at the least cost is for all parties is to be talking to one another and working together more closely…What we found are a whole lot more similarities than differences.”
For her successful merger, she was named the first-ever Woman of the Year, as well as Businessperson of the Year in Hammond.

The next year Senator Dan Coats declared her Indiana’s 27th “Hoosier Hero.” That award recognized persons who contribute to the diverse tapestry of Indiana history or life by promoting Hoosier values. It noted her active leadership in participation with community agencies such as a homeless shelter, public schools, fire and police departments, chambers of commerce, and an area hospice.

For the past nine years, Sister Jane Marie has chaired the governing board of the Sisters of St. Francis Health Services, Inc., which she previously led as president and CEO. Last year she guided the board through a system restructuring designed to increase operational effectiveness and expansion of patient care.
Sister Jane Marie served IHHA as a member of its Council on Urban Hospitals and was a member of the Catholic Hospital Association’s Board of Trustees.