On this week’s episode of You Are What You Read, we are remembering a dear friend who passed recently, beloved nun Sister Bernadette Kenny. Sister Bernie grew up in Boston and entered the order of the Medical Missionaries of Mary in 1957. For fifteen years, Sister Bernie traveled from Ireland to Tanzania as a midwife, and then moved to Southwest Virginia in 1978 by request of the Richmond Diocese. In 1982, Sister Bernie founded the Health Wagon, a single mobile unit, traveling through small towns to community locations and even providing care in families’ backyards to the medically underserved populations of Southwest Virginia. From preventative care, women’s health, and chronic disease management (the list goes on), to parenting classes, economic health, and even technical education, the Health Wagon has become an invaluable lifesaving resource across the five main counties it serves, and beyond. In 2019, Sister Bernie co-wrote "Better for Being with You: A Philosophy of Care" with Tauna Gulley who worked alongside Sister Bernie in Clinchco, Virginia. In the book, Sister Bernie and Tauna recount three decades of health care work in Southwest Virginia. The great Father John Rausch once said if you want to meet a modern-day saint, have a conversation with Sister Bernie Kenny. We hope you enjoy this conversation with her. 

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