Former head of Saint Joseph Hospital dies in Louisville

Sister Michael Leo Mullaney, the former president of Saint Joseph Hospital in Lexington, died Wednesday. She was 96.

She served as head of Saint Joseph from 1966 until 1988. During her tenure, the hospital’s capacity soared from 285 to 468 beds, making it the largest hospital in Central Kentucky at the time.

During her time at St. Joseph, Sister Michael Leo liquidated the hospital’s $1 million debt, introduced computerization to hospital offices and initiated plans for hospital expansion. In 1981 she became head of the Kentucky Hospital Association.

She was born in 1922 in Quincy, Massachusetts. In a 1987 Herald-Leader article, Sister Michael Leo recalled her first part-time job in Quincy. She was given a bottle of ammonia to clean windows.

“It was a new store, and they handed me a bottle of ammonia spray to clean the windows. I sprayed the stuff, took one whiff of it, and I fainted.”

The store fired her.

In 1953, she joined the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. She later received a degree from Bentley College of Accounting and Finance in Boston (now Bentley University) and a master’s degree in hospital administration from St. Louis University.

At the time of her death, Sister Michael Leo was living at a Nazareth Home in Louisville.

“Sister Michael Leo worked tirelessly to bring the best technology to Saint Joseph Hospital and the Lexington community,” said Bruce Tassin, market chief executive officer and Kentucky One Health and president of Saint Joseph Hospital.