Sister Mary Jean Ryan, FSM, grew up in Cuba City, Wisconsin. After graduating high school, she attended nursing school, one of the few career choices available in the late 1950s to a young woman from a family with little financial means.

At the St. Mary’s Hospital School of Nursing, Sister Mary Jean found great inspiration in the sisters who taught her. In 1961, after graduating from St. Mary’s with a diploma in nursing, she entered the convent and became a sister with the congregation today known as the Franciscan Sisters of Mary.

She earned a bachelor of science in nursing from St. Louis University in 1967. Subsequently, she held supervisory nursing posts at St. Mary’s Health Center in St. Louis and St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison, Wis. In 1974, she received her master’s in hospital and health administration from Xavier University in Cincinnati.

Throughout the ‘60s and ‘70s, Sister Mary Jean held a variety of executive posts at her congregation’s hospitals. In 1986, when SSM Health Care was formed, she was appointed the system’s first ever President/CEO, a position she held until August 1, 2009 when she became Chair/CEO.

Throughout her tenure, she has emphasized three themes: continuous quality improvement, diversity and preservation of the earth. In 1999, the system approved its mission statement, developed from a process that involved nearly 3,000 employees at every facility and every level of SSM Health Care. That 13-word mission: “Through our exceptional health care services, we reveal the healing presence of God.”

Sister Mary Jean has championed SSM Health Care’s efforts to constantly improve processes to deliver exceptional patient care, insisting that employees at every level of the organization be called upon for their wisdom and leadership.

SSM Health Care’s facilities have been recognized with state quality awards in each of the four states where the system serves. The system is the first health care recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the nation’s most prestigious quality award.

As a result of Sister Mary’s Jean’s focus, SSM Health Care annually recycles more than four million tons of material. In 2004, SSM Health Care became the largest health system at that time to go entirely tobacco free inside and out. The organization’s diversity efforts have been nationally cited as a best practice by both the Baldrige Award and the American Hospital Association.

Sister Mary Jean has served on the National Commission for Quality Long Term Care, chaired by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former U.S. Senator Bob Kerry. In addition, she serves and has served on a variety of boards of directors, at the state level and nationally.

Six times named by Modern Healthcare magazine as one of the most powerful people in health care, she has received numerous national and state awards, including the Brotherhood and Sisterhood Award from the National Conference on Community and Justice. The St. Louis University School of Public Health established a scholarship in her name to honor her contributions to health care. 

Sister Mary Jean has gained an international reputation as an inspiring speaker. She has spoken in nearly all 50 states and in Japan, Thailand, Korea, the Philippines, Canada, Argentina, Sweden, and Brazil.