Catholic Health World
| July 1, 2010 | Volume 26, Number 12 |
Sr. Rita Thomas, CBS, accepts the CHA Lifetime Achievement Award
It takes vision to realize when good is not good enough.
Sr. Rita Thomas, CBS, had the vision to help transform a regional health system into a leader in cutting-edge care. Throughout her career, she’s fought for justice and discovered creative ways to reach the needy in her community of Portsmouth, Va., and its environs.
As a newly minted director of nursing, she was involved in making sure St. Mary’s Hospital in Richmond, Va., would not be segregated as originally planned when it opened in 1964. And today, well into her 80s and enjoying an active retirement, she works for the less fortunate and serves on numerous nonprofit boards. A few years ago, she traveled to Peru to assist the Peruvian Sisters of Bon Secours with new programs in their health clinic.
Richard J. Statuto, president and chief executive of Bon Secours Health System in Marriottsville, Md., says Sr. Thomas takes a stand for right and has devoted her six-decade career to fulfilling the system’s promise of delivering “Good help to those in need.”
“She’s always seeing the next thing,” says Sr. Patricia Eck, CBS, chairperson of the Bon Secours Health System board of directors. “She’s always been a forward thinker and a dynamo. She will encourage and challenge you to be the best person you can be.”
For all her contributions through five decades in health care and almost seven in her congregation, Sr. Thomas is a 2010 recipient of CHA’s Lifetime Achievement Award. The award celebrates leaders who have mentored others in Catholic health care and have inspired the larger community.
Frankly, such attention makes Sr. Thomas uncomfortable. She deflects credit for her many accomplishments upon those with whom she has collaborated during her long career.
“We don’t do anything alone,” says Sr. Thomas. “You know, I’m very limited. If I’ve had any success, it’s being able to work with people who are brighter than me. I respect them and give them the latitude to use their gifts.”
“That is classic Sr. Rita,” says Bob Aston, president of TowneBank in Norfolk, Va., and former board chair of Bon Secours Hampton Roads Health System. Sr. Thomas is past president of the board of the Suffolk, Va.-based system, and she remains active as a board member. Aston counts himself among the numerous board members, employees and area residents mentored by Sr. Thomas.
“Her leadership style is one of seeing no barriers,” Aston says. “She is a great motivator of people and a great believer of bringing a team together. She’ll say, ‘Oh, I didn’t do it,’ but she’s the one who is always trying to get you to expand your thinking — not just to consider what’s around the next bend, but what’s 100 miles down the road.”
Sr. Thomas arrived at Bon Secours Hampton Roads Health System in the Chesapeake Bay area in 1983. A year later, she guided Maryview Hospital’s transition from diocesan community hospital to member of the Bon Secours Health System. She helped grow the hospital into a regional health care center. Maryview is in Portsmouth.
Along the way, Sr. Thomas helped establish preschool immunization programs and a community clinic. She has served on the boards of many civic and charitable organizations.
Sr. Thomas was elected provincial of the U.S. Province of the Sisters of Bon Secours in 1973, a role she filled for six years. During her tenure, she established the national position of health care coordinator and formed the Bon Secours Health Care Commission, laying the foundation for what is now Bon Secours Health System, an organization of more than 21,000 caregivers across seven states. She served as chairperson of the Bon Secours Health System board from 1994 to 1996.
In her every role, Sr. Thomas has championed the core values of the Bon Secours sisters — compassion and justice.
“We were called to serve the sick and dying and to give healing and wholeness. We give those we serve the knowledge there is a God who loves them,” Sr. Thomas explains. “As we move forward, it’s extremely important that we don’t lose sight of why we are here. We got into Catholic health care not as a business. We are carrying on the ministry of Jesus. It is important for us to advocate for the poor and the marginalized, and educate the next generation of leaders in Catholic health care.”
Sr. Rita Thomas
Sr. Rita Thomas
Sr. Thomas has a keen business acumen that has facilitated the system’s expansion to serve the needy and meet the community’s growing demands for health services, Aston says. She helped establish assisted living and long-term care facilities as well as the Bon Secours Heart Institute and the Bon Secours Surgical Weight Loss Center.
Born in Baltimore, Sr. Thomas started her career as a nurse, working in obstetrics and geriatric care. Those experiences influenced her approach as an administrator, says Sr. Eck.
“She loves patient care and understands that every decision an administrator makes can either help or hamper caregivers,” says Sr. Eck.
Sr. Thomas says she didn’t choose a career in health care administration — it chose her.
“I found out that while I enjoyed my clinical experience, the administrative part of the work suited me,” Sr. Thomas says. “I like to get things done. I like the satisfaction of having goals and working towards them. I like working with people.”
Her friends marvel at her energy, affectionately calling this petite fan of tennis and interior design “the Energizer Bunny.”
“She is small in size and has a seemingly soft demeanor, but she is huge in terms of her vision, her energy level and her ability to make things happen,” says Aston. “I think those who don’t know underestimate her, but she has this tenacity to push forward.”
Copyright © 2010 by the Catholic Health Association of the United States
For more about Sr. Rita Thomas, please check this out:
- Sr. Rita receives prestigious award
- Sr. Rita gets a lifetime
- Caring for our four legged friends (pg. 17)
- Sr. Rita visits Peru
Tags: become a sister, bon secours, catholic ministries, catholic nun, catholic nurse, nun, nursing, sister
