Three Sisters Retire from Medical Ministries

Sister Mary Rardin

Sister Mary Rardin has retired as a physician and chief medical officer at F.W. Huston Medical Center (FWH) in Winchester, Kansas, her most recent position in a 46-year career of practicing medicine.

Her dream of being a medical doctor surfaced early. As a child, she was fascinated with anything involving science or medicine, and she knew from the time she was 10 years old that she wanted to become a physician. After graduating from Hayden High School in Topeka, Kansas, Sister Mary completed her undergraduate work at Washburn University and then signed on with the U.S. Navy, which paid her way through the University of Kansas (KU) Medical School. She spent three years as a Navy physician, and after discharge, she completed her family medicine residency at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita and became board certified.

Around this time, she experienced a call from God to a very different and unexpected vocation: entering religious life. After searching for a community that felt comfortable, she entered Mount St. Scholastica at the age of 31.

After becoming a Benedictine, Sister Mary continued her medical ministry in a variety of ways. She served the poor in Leavenworth, Kansas, at St. Vincent Clinic for 4 years, followed by another 4 years in Kansas City as medical director of the Homeless and HIV/AIDS programs at Swope Health Services. She then served for 10 years on the faculty of KU Medical Center, teaching and practicing family medicine. Later she worked as a traveling doctor with Docs Who Care for 5 years, helping at rural hospitals and clinics in Kansas.

In 2011, she began working at FWH. In her 12 years there, she provided care in the rural hospital, emergency room, clinic, and nursing home; helped implement their electronic health record system; Three Sisters Retire from Medical Ministries and served in leadership as chief medical officer for the past 8 years. The most challenging stretch of her career was when the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020. “It was like being hit with a constant fire hose of new information and studies about how to prevent and manage this new infection,” she said. Thanks to Sister Mary’s diligence and the dedication of the nursing directors and staff, the facility weathered the pandemic well.

Sister Mary says the best thing about retirement is being relieved of the extensive charting, documentation, and work required to meet ever-increasing government regulations. She is looking forward to taking a sabbatical to rest, recharge, and pray about her future path as a Benedictine sister and physician.

Sister Oanh Pham

After a 35-year career as a medical-surgical floor nurse, Sister Oanh Pham has retired to volunteer at Keeler Women’s Center and spend more time with the sisters at the Mount and her family.

Sister Oanh was born in Vietnam. She was able to flee the country in 1975 in the midst of the fall of Saigon when her family arranged for her to join a group of LaSalle sisters who were coming to California. After living in California for five years, she moved to Kansas to discern a vocation at the Mount. For a year she lived in Atchison as a companion to the mother of Sister Loretta McGuire and, in 1981, she joined the community.

In 1988, Sister Oanh received a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Washburn University. She worked at St. Francis Hospital in Topeka for three years and, in 1991, she moved to Kansas City and worked full time at St. Joseph Hospital and part time at Shawnee Mission Medical Center. Later in the year, she started a full-time job at the Shawnee Mission facility (now AdventHealth Shawnee Mission) and remained there until she retired in 2023. Meanwhile, her family was able to emigrate from Vietnam and joined her in Kansas City in 1992.

In reflecting on her retirement from nursing, Sister Oanh said, “My life is like a book; I close one chapter and start another.” She said that although she misses her patients, she’s glad she can now spend more time with her family, especially her elderly mother. She also began volunteering at Keeler Women’s Center (a ministry of Mount St. Scholastica) part time, where she greets guests at the reception desk, teaches an embroidery class, and helps with various other tasks.

Sister Oanh will be going on a pilgrimage to Ireland in March and hopes to make a trip back to Vietnam one day. For now, she’s content to be a homebody who no longer needs to work the night shift, is able to be with the community and her family on holidays, and can work on her exquisite embroidery projects to her heart’s content.

Sister Maria Nguyen

Sister Maria Nguyen, who has had a 33-year career as a medical social worker, retired from this profession at the end of 2023.

Sister Maria, who was born in Vietnam, arrived in the United States with her family in 1975 after the fall of Saigon. She immediately began her undergraduate studies at Benedictine College, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology. She entered the Mount in 1981 and, in 1990, she earned a master’s degree in medical social work from Saint Louis University in Saint Louis, Missouri. Her first job in her field was at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in Saint Louis from 1990-1994.

In 1994, Sister Maria moved to Kansas City and began work at Research Medical Center as a medical social worker in the areas of oncology and dialysis and kidney transplantation. In 2001, she switched from the area of oncology to work solely with patients undergoing dialysis and kidney transplantation. She educated and counseled patients to help improve their quality of life and advocated for patients and their families.

Sister Maria eased into retirement in 2023 by cutting back her hours at her job and volunteering one day a week at Keeler Women’s Center, a ministry of the Mount. Starting in January 2024, she began volunteering full-time at Keeler Center as a case manager and spiritual director.

Sister Maria is also continuing her volunteer work as assistant chaplain for the Vietnamese Eucharistic Youth Movement (VEYM) in Kansas City, Missouri / League of John Paul II / Assistant Chaplains in the Midwest and as the representative assistant chaplain for the VEYM of the United States. In addition, she continues to serve as a consultant for vocation and formation teams for many religious communities of women and men and as a spiritual director. She enjoys all her volunteer work with various ministries very much as she believes her calling is to serve them to the best of her ability.