Sister Keehan named Catholic Health Association president and CEO

Published: 2005-09-08

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The new president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association is already a familiar face in the halls of Congress and familiar to national organizations in Washington. Sister Carol Keehan, a Daughter of Charity who most recently chaired the board of Sacred Heart Health System in Pensacola, Fla., has represented CHA before Congress and has been a leader in nationwide efforts to find ways to get health insurance for all Americans. Sister Carol, who will take up her new duties Oct. 10, also headed Providence Hospital in Washington for 15 years. The appointment was announced Sept. 7 in a teleconference from CHA's headquarters in St. Louis. A 40-year member of the Daughters of Charity, Sister Carol addressed the House Ways and Means Committee in May about the community benefits provided by Catholic hospitals, saying they far outweighed the value of their tax exemptions. But she emphasized that "Catholic hospitals do not provide these services to justify continued tax exemption." She said, "We provide them because serving our communities in this way is integral to our history, our identity and our mission -- it is what we always have done."

Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .