User:Ngriffeth/Sister Mary Madonna Ashton

Mary Madonna Ashton (1924-) is a Minnesota-based Sister of Saint Joseph. She was the first female, non-physician State Commissioner of Health in Minnesota. She was also president and CEO of St. Mary’s Hospital in Minneapolis and founded St. Mary’s Health Clinics.

Sister Mary Madonna earned a bachelor’s in sociology and psychology from St. Catherine University (then the College of St. Catherine) in 1944. She holds a Master of Hospital Administration from the University of Minnesota, and a Master of Science in Social Work from St. Louis University. She worked in medical social work and hospital administration, ultimately serving as president and CEO at St. Mary’s Hospital in Minneapolis from 1962–1982.

The following year she was contacted by then Minnesota Governor-Elect Rudy Perpich who asked her to serve as Commissioner of Health, despite tremendous opposition (she was not a physician, she was a woman and a nun!). Sister Mary Madonna served as the Minnesota Commissioner of Health from 1983–1991, successfully addressing smoking cessation and AIDS prevention. She helped pass landmark legislation outlawing smoking in public places and on public property. Testifying for days against the tobacco industry, her success on behalf of the state of Minnesota started a nationwide movement.

Sister Mary Madonna was a trustee of St. Mary’s Junior College from 1974 to 1986 and at St. Catherine from 1986 to 1995 — shepherding both institutions through the merger that would, in 2007, become the Henrietta Schmoll School of Health.

After leaving state government in 1991, Sister Mary Madonna joined other Sisters of St. Joseph in creating what would become St. Mary’s Health Clinics (SMHC) in 1992. Through the ministry, she spearheaded an innovative and compassionate effort to extend healthcare to uninsured citizens. By the time Sister Mary Madonna retired in 2000, SMHC had 11 clinics throughout the Twin Cities, which continue to serve families and individuals who have nowhere else to turn for medical care.te Commissioner of Health under Governor Perpich, and founded St. Mary’s Health Clinics. Sister Mary Madonna earned a bachelor’s in sociology and psychology from St. Catherine University (then the College of St. Catherine) in 1944. She holds a Master of Hospital Administration from the University of Minnesota, and a Master of Science in Social Work from St. Louis University. She worked in medical social work and hospital administration, ultimately serving as president and CEO at St. Mary’s Hospital in Minneapolis from 1962–1982.