The annals of UPMC’s Human Resources Department indicate that Sister Carolyn Schallenberger, RSM, has been with UPMC Mercy (and Mercy Hospital before it) since Aug. 30, 1959, making her UPMC’s most tenured employee, with a 65th service anniversary to celebrate this week.
But, sister Carolyn will tell you the official numbers aren’t completely accurate.
It was, in fact, 1953 when she first set foot inside Mercy Hospital as a young nurse-in-training.
“I came as a student nurse,” explains Sr. Carolyn. ” I thought I wanted to be a nurse, but I just wasn’t satisfied–there was still something uneasy in my life. When I got here to the school of nursing and met Sisters and saw their helpfulness, and their prayerful life in the chapel, I knew that was where I belonged.”
In less than three months, she had joined the Sisters of Mercy, the order that founded Mercy Hospital in 1847 as their first hospital in the world, and the first hospital in the city of Pittsburgh. From there, it was several years of schooling, with on-the-job training in the summer.
She didn’t officially join the payroll until 1959–and she hasn’t left since.
Her story represents not just one individual with notable staying power and a cool motorized scooter that turns heads throughout campus daily.
When Sr. Carolyn became part of the Mercy community in the 1950’s the hospital was just over 100 years old and was run by the Sisters of Mercy. She’s been witness to immense changes in the hospital, the health care industry, and the world in the decades since.
And her journey has run parallel to that of Mercy Hospital itself, which remains rooted in tradition and mission, the only Catholic hospital remaining in Pittsburgh today, and at the same time, embraces change and innovation at every turn.
