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79R14759 MAM-D
By: Brown of Brazos H.R. No. 1568
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, After 24 years of exemplary service, the longtime
leader of Saint Joseph Health System, Sister Gretchen Kunz of
Bryan, is transitioning from her position as president and chief
executive officer to assist the system's charitable organization,
the St. Joseph Foundation; and
WHEREAS, A Franciscan nun who holds degrees in nursing,
education, and educational and hospital administration, Sister
Gretchen was appointed hospital administrator by the Sisters of St.
Francis in 1981; prior to moving to Bryan, she served as director of
nurses at Providence Hospital in Sandusky, Ohio, for 10 years; and
WHEREAS, After she arrived at Saint Joseph, she worked to
establish close relationships with civic, school, and business
leaders as well as physicians to ensure that the needs of the
community were being met; her farsighted leadership was a driving
force in establishing the hospital's cardiac and cancer treatment
facilities and in expanding its rehabilitation and surgical
services, maternal-child care, and emergency services; during her
tenure, the facility's staff has grown from 300 to more than 2,000
employees, and small hospitals in Caldwell, Navasota, and
Madisonville as well as eight rural clinics have joined the system;
and
WHEREAS, In addition to her service to Saint Joseph, Sister
Gretchen helped to found a number of important community
organizations, including the Prenatal Clinic, the Health for All
Clinic, Project Unity, and the local Habitat for Humanity; she has
also served on the boards of the United Way of the Brazos Valley and
the Bryan-College Station Chamber of Commerce, which recently named
her the Citizen of the Year; and
WHEREAS, Sister Gretchen's impressive skill as an
administrator and passionate commitment to the needs of the people
of the Bryan-College Station area are truly outstanding, and her
strength, warmth, and humanity will long continue to inspire all
who know or know of her; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 79th Texas
Legislature hereby honor Sister Gretchen Kunz as she transitions
from her position as president and chief executive officer of Saint
Joseph Health System and extend to her sincere best wishes for the
future; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
prepared for Sister Gretchen as an expression of high regard by the
Texas House of Representatives.