NEW ORLEANS - The Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA) honored Sr. Yvonne Gellise, RSM, of Saint Joseph Mercy Health System, Ann Arbor, Mich., with the association's 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award. The presentation was made at CHA's Catholic Health Assembly in New Orleans.

The Lifetime Achievement Award honors recipients for a lifelong commitment and lifetime contributions to the ministry.

Sr. Yvonne, originally from Bay City, Mich., has been an accountant, a hospital executive and an advocate for helping homeless people rebuild their lives.

In 1955, Sr. Yvonne entered the Sisters of Mercy of Detroit. (The congregation now is the Sisters of Mercy, West Midwest Community.) She graduated from the University of Detroit and then went to work in Mercy Hospital's business office in Dubuque, Iowa. In 1965, she received a master's in hospital administration from Saint Louis University. Three years later, she went to Ann Arbor to become chief executive of Saint Joseph Mercy Health System.

“Sr. Yvonne describes herself as the grandmother of the organization because she's been with St. Joe's for more than 40 years,” commented Garry C. Faja, president and CEO, Saint Joseph Mercy Health System. “She has seen a lot, she knows a lot and she has many friends in the organization and in the community.”

Faja continued, “Sr. Yvonne is most deserving of this award and I am grateful to call her a colleague and friend. She has taught me patience. She also has taught me that health care is people taking care of people. When you take all the complexities away, that's what it's all about.”

Sr. Yvonne is senior advisor for governance for Saint Joseph Mercy Health System in Ann Arbor, which is a member of Trinity Health, a national health system based in Novi, Mich. She is a past board chair of Mercy Health Services and a charter member of the Trinity Health board and Catholic Health Ministries, the Vatican-approved public juridic person entity that sponsors Trinity Health. Both Trinity Health and Catholic Health Ministries were founded in 2000.

She also is a founder and board member of the Washtenaw Housing Alliance, a homeless-services network in Ann Arbor that includes nonprofit agencies and representatives of the city and Washtenaw County. Founded in 2000, the alliance established Alpha House, a shelter for as many as eight families. The shelter operates in a building owned by Saint Joseph Mercy Health System.

“Sr. Yvonne was extremely influential when we took on the homeless problem in Washtenaw County,” said Faja. “She was absolutely passionate about addressing that issue. But, she wasn't just passionate about building a homeless center - which we did with the help of many people in the community - she kept driving home the fact that we need to end homelessness.”

“Concern about housing and homelessness is in our DNA," Sr. Yvonne said of the Sisters of Mercy. "We have to have a passion for the possible, and it's possible for everyone to have a place to live."

"She has an undaunted spirit to serve the vulnerable among us," said Joseph R. Swedish, president and chief executive of Trinity Health, the parent organization to Saint Joseph Mercy Health System. "She is a very humble person, with an aura that people find compelling. It all emanates from her passion to serve."

At age 74, Sr. Gellise said she plans to continue working "as long as I can open my eyes to another day. I know that God is my center," she said. "As long as I have my mind and my heart, why not use them for good?"

Sr. Gellise accepted her award at a gala celebration that also honored recipients of CHA's Achievement Citation award for outstanding, innovative programming; the Sister Mary Concilia Moran Award for a visionary leader; and the Midcareer Award, which recognizes remarkable achievement in the recipient's field.