Barbara McCaulley appointed hospital's vice president for mission and ethics

By Joe Bjordal, January 22, 2009 [Episcopal News Service] In an unusual appointment, an Episcopal priest will join the senior management team of a major Roman Catholic hospital.  The Rev. Barbara McCaulley, a priest in the Diocese of Iowa, has been named vice president for mission and ethics at Mercy Medical Center North Iowa, located in Mason City.

McCaulley says her new job is to "really be the conscience for our organization" and to provide guidance and support for "mission and values throughout Mercy Medical Center."

She will also directly supervise and coordinate several community outreach efforts including the hospital's homeless shelter, free dental clinic and several medical services to north Iowa's growing Hispanic population.

"Part of my role is to be a champion for the poor and underserved," said McCaulley.

McCaulley says that every aspect of her new job is "saying yes" to her vocation as a priest and her ordination vows.  She feels that all of her previous professional and "life experience" have equipped her for her new ministry.

Founded as St. Joseph Mercy Hospital by the Sisters of Mercy in 1916, Mercy Medical Center North Iowa was named one of the "Top 100 Hospitals" by Thomson Reuters in 2008.  It employs 2,700 persons, including 300 physicians and has 44 clinics located in 33 northern Iowa communities.  In 2008 the hospital recorded 13,469 inpatient discharges and 452,978 outpatient visits. Mercy Medical Center is also recognized by Hospitals & Health Networks as one of the nation's "most-wired hospitals."

Mercy Medical Center is owned by Trinity Health of Novi, Michigan, the fourth-largest Catholic health system in the United States, based on operating revenue.

Bishop Christopher Epting, former Bishop of Iowa and currently the Presiding Bishop's Deputy for Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations, has known McCaulley since the 1990's.  He said he always "found her competence matched only by her compassion."

"Her ecumenical commitment goes back a long way and it is good to see our Roman Catholic colleagues recognizing and rewarding that," said Epting. "She will be in my prayers and thoughts in this new ministry."

McCaulley was ordained as a minister in the United Methodist Church in 1982 and entered the Episcopal priesthood in 2003. She has been a board certified chaplain since 1989 and has served Mercy Medical Center for twenty years.

She has also served St. John's Episcopal Church, Mason City in a non-stipendiary position as priest associate for the past five years.  St. John's Church will formally commission and celebrate McCaulley's new ministry as part of its Sunday morning service on February 22.

-- Joe Bjordal is Episcopal Life Media correspondent in the dioceses of Provinces V and VI. He is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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