Sister Sheila Lyne—a member of the Religious Sisters of Mercy for 67 years who led Chicago’s Mercy Hospital as president and CEO for decades, and also served as commissioner of public health for Chicago from 1991 to 2000—died March 10 of natural causes, The Chicago Tribune reported. She was 83.
Not long after being appointed health commissioner, Lyne met with representatives from Chicago Catholic Women, Catholic Advocates for Lesbian and Gay Rights, Planned Parenthood, the National Organization for Women and the Howard Brown Health (then Howard Brown Memorial Clinic), and said she would do whatever worked from a public health standpoint.
Among the programs she established were the Office of Violence Prevention, which set up a Violence Prevention Strategic Plan; and the Office of Lesbian and Gay Health—then one of only two in the country.