Member Highlight #2 Sister Bernie Kenny
A unique look at health care from a rural experience:
“It’s not about pills. In most health care the emotional part is ignored. Health care is social; it’s a way of identifying what’s inside a person.”
Meet Sister Bernie Kenny! Among the many hats she wears, Sr. Bernie is a member of the religious congregation of the Medical Missionaries of Mary. She is also a nurse practitioner and worked for several years in Tanzania. Forty years ago she came to Dickenson County, Virginia where members of ATD Fourth World met her in 1992. Soon after, she and fellow Dickenson County resident, Ray Mullins, attended the ATD Fourth World Family Congress in New York and Washington, DC in 1994.When her friends in McClure, VA had to leave their home and preferred not to sell, Sr. Bernie asked ATD Fourth World if this was the right time to fulfill a long-held hope of being present in Appalachia. The timing was right. Vincent and Fanchette Fanelli, ATD Fourth World Volunteer Corps members, moved into that house and began what would be a 23 year presence in the county and the creation of the Appalachian Learning Co-op.
As access to medical care was difficult to obtain in this rural area, Sr. Bernie started a mobile health unit which came to be known as the Health Wagon. With Sr. Bernie at the wheel, this big camper rode the winding roads of the county, often getting stuck behind slow moving coal trucks. Folks knew what day and where to find Sr. Bernie who stopped the Health Wagon in strategic locations and changed from a driver to a caregiver. She initiated the Remote Area Medical project (RAM) coming to the region, an annual three-day open air medical clinic drawing people from three states.
Today, as a Certified Family Nurse Practitioner and Licensed Massage Therapist, this friend of ATD Fourth World Movement speaks of her practice and hopes for the future of healthcare and how we care for people. In a recent conversation with Susie Devins, ATD Fourth World Regional Delegate for North America, she talked about her vision for comprehensive health care.
“It’s not about pills. In most health care the emotional part is ignored. Health care is social; it’s a way of identifying what’s inside a person. In the area, diabetes and hypertension are the two biggest health issues people face. The good news is that the state of Virginia has just agreed to Medicaid expansion, meaning more low income and working people will have some access to health care. There is a great need for more nurse practitioners and I hope they won’t become technicians. In nearby Happy Valley, a low income health clinic is being built as an outgrowth of the Health Wagon which is financed by federal and church funds and donations. My hope is for a single payer—national health plan.”
Sr. Bernie is co-authoring a book with Tauna Gulley that explores the concept of care and caring among residents in central Appalachia. The book explores what health care means in the families and culture of Appalachia. The interviews begin with the question, “Can you recall when you really felt cared for?”