FEBRUARY 2025
Last week, the Mount Carmel family gathered to remember and celebrate the amazing life and legacy of Sister Barbara Hahl, CSC, who passed away January 27, 2025.
Sister Barbara was a member of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, the order that founded Mount Carmel Health System with a single hospital in the Franklinton area of Columbus nearly 140 years ago.
At the event, Brian Pierson, president, Mount Carmel Grove City shared, “From 1981 to 1985, she was missioned as the assistant administrator for non-clinical and clinical areas at Mount Carmel East Hospital. In 1983, she was recognized for her “business acumen and team-player attitude,” being designated to manage several new building projects that would expand the hospital. After earning a master’s degree in business administration in 1985 from the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, Sister Barbara served as executive vice president for 10 years.
As executive vice president, she developed and oversaw all programs for Mount Carmel Health System, such as hospice, homecare, outreach, and many others that are still a part of Mount Carmel today. She was senior vice president for community services from 1996 until her retirement in 2020 and was responsible for the spiritual health and wellness of Mount Carmel, including mission services, spiritual care services, volunteer services and outreach.
In Sister Barbara’s many years with Mount Carmel, there was never a position that she disliked. She loved that Mount Carmel was dedicated to serving the poor. Her goals in life were always to “serve in the spirit of the Gospel” and see that “the lost, the poor, and the underserved are treated with reverence, dignity and respect.” Her colleagues were grateful for her passion in caring for those who were most vulnerable, and remarked that “for almost 40 years, we have witnessed a servant leader like no other.” She was caring, compassionate, and nurturing.
After retiring at the end of 2020, Sister Barbara moved to the motherhouse at Saint Mary’s in Notre Dame, Indiana, where she lived out the last chapter of her life. Sister Barbara spent a lifetime being a voice for those who had none and taught others to do the same, and her significant impact on the Mount Carmel Health System will be felt for generations.”
The Foundation’s Sister Barbara Hahl Community Health & Well-Being Fund supports the work she cherished and carries her legacy into the future. If you would like to honor and remember Sister Barbara, please consider a donation to this special fund.
Laura Gravelin, MD, FHRS, has advice you should take to heart
As Heart Month wraps up, what would you want everyone to know about their cardiac health?
Cardiac disease - heart attack, stroke, for example - can be prevented with healthy eating habits, exercise and blood pressure control. High quality sleep has also been recognized as helpful to heart health. Make sure you know your blood pressure and cholesterol and if it’s at goal. Also, are you screened for diabetes or if you have it, what is your A1C and is it at goal? No smoking and no drinking!
If you are generally healthy, what can you do to maintain or improve your heart health?
Most people can increase their exercise. If you are just starting out, set a goal for the number of steps you walk a day. If you already have an exercise regimen, are you meeting at least 150 minutes a week of moderate exertional exercise like brisk walking, cycling, dancing? Can you do an additional day of exercise? Or add 15 more minutes?
We all have room to improve our eating habits: vegetables, fruits and lean protein should be the bulk of what you eat (stick to the outer aisles of the grocery store). Understand food labels and read the ingredients - do you know what you are eating?
Are there any amazing advances in care that Mount Carmel offers?
Mount Carmel has cardiac teams expert in treating valve disease with procedures instead of open-heart surgeries. One of our teams is treating difficult blood pressure with an innovative procedure for the kidneys. For patients with atrial fibrillation, we have all the newest technologies to treat atrial fibrillation with ablation, including pulse field ablation. And for those patients who need blood thinners to reduce stroke but are at high risk of bleeding, there are options to blood thinners.
Are there special actions that individuals with a family history of heart disease should do, above and beyond those who do not have that type of family history?
It is important that any family history of stroke, heart attack or heart failure be reviewed with your physician. If a family member passed away suddenly, unexpectedly, please discuss with your physician to determine if any testing, screening or surveillance is required to keep you healthy.
Any special advice for women about heart health?
Heart disease is not just a man’s disease. In fact, it is the number one killer of women.
Heart attacks in women most commonly present with chest pain, but women more frequently can have nausea, jaw and arm pain, or shortness of breath as indicators of heart attack, especially if these occur with activity. High blood pressure or diabetes during pregnancy, along with preterm deliveries can increase the risk of heart disease and are important to share with your physician team. Hormone replacement therapy over the age of 50 can be an increased risk and it is important to weigh the risks and benefits with your physician to optimize both quality of life and heart health.
Dr. Gravelin is the medical director of Mount Carmel’s Electrophysiology Lab and co-director of the Women’s Heart Program. She received her medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston and then went on to complete her internship and residency at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Dr. Gravelin is fellowship trained in Cardiovascular Disease from Brown Medical School/Rhode Island Hospital. She is board-certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in General Cardiology and Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology. Her special interests include electrophysiology, general cardiology and women’s cardiovascular disease.
Caring for colleagues includes a financial safety net
Unexpected financial hardships can impact the well-being of Mount Carmel colleagues. Generous donors help support the Foundation’s Sister Rose Thomas Fund, which can provide our colleagues with a confidential, interest free, $1,000 loan to help meet emergency financial needs.
To be eligible, colleagues need to:
- Have been employed in their current position for at least six months
- Have successfully completed their six-month orientation
- Be employed either full- or part-time (casual labor does not qualify)
- Be actively working, not on leave
- Be a colleague in good standing, with no current corrective action
Guidelines for assistance are:
- Interest free loan up to $1,000
- Paid back through a payroll deduction each pay period, at a minimum of $40
- Loan funds can be used to help with rent, mortgage, utilities, car payments, car repairs, medical bills
- Loan funds cannot be used for credit cards, legal bills, tuition, cable, property taxes, pawn items and other items determined by the managers of the fund
- An existing loan must be paid in full before applying for another loan
Lori Gramke, coordinator, Community Health & Well-Being, helps administer the Sister Rose Thomas Fund. “Our dedicated colleagues – from our front-line caregivers to our administrative staff and Environmental Services Team – make our mission come to life every day,” says Gramke. “For those who may need this help, they can contact me confidentially and I will help them through the process. We’re grateful to the Foundation donors who make it possible for us to help colleagues who need help overcoming short-term financial emergencies.”
About Sister M. Rose Thomas, CSC
Sister M. Rose Thomas CSC, (1902 – 1987) entered the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, St. Mary’s, on February 10, 1929. She was received as a novice on August 15, 1929 and made her final vows on August 15, 1931. Her first assignment was as an office assistant in the business office of Mount Carmel Hospital, where she served from 1931 to 1948. In 1962 she returned to Mount Carmel Hospital to serve as Sister Visitor to patients, where she remained until 1984, when she returned to Rosary Hall, St. Mary’s, Notre Dame.
Mission in action: New Community Impact Report released
Outside the walls of Mount Carmel’s facilities, our Community Health & Well-Being teams bring care to where it is most needed by people least able to access it. In the most recent fiscal year, more than 6,000 underinsured or uninsured individuals received free care through our Street Medicine Program. Another 98,000 people received social needs screening, to help them address housing, food security, safety, education, language and financial barriers to health and well-being.
In total, Mount Carmel provided $257.6 million in community impact, in more than 125,000 encounters, in fiscal year 2024. You can learn more about this important work in the new Community Impact Report.