Our People
Healthcare Practitioners
As religious sisters, we live in community and support each other in community. This community life is foundational to our approach to healthcare. Our providers are committed to creating a community of care, not only for each other but also for the patients and families we serve.
Sister Providers
Administrative Staff
Thomas Pastula
Rachael Feenstra
Mary Ellen Fockler, LPN
Cindy Custer, MA
Amanda Barrett
Cynthia Foster
Cindy Pastula
Shauna Palomino, MA
Marlena Burggren, MA
Marie Frost, RN
Kelly Penner
Sister Mary Gretchen Hoffman, RSM, MD
Sister Mary Gretchen Hoffman, RSM, MD has been with the Religious Sisters of Mercy since 2003. She completed her medical school training at George Washington University, and graduated from an Internal Medicine Residency at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville in 2014. Dr. Hoffman is a board certified internist.
Through compassionate and quality care, Dr. Hoffman hopes to carry out her vow of service and contribute to the Institute’s mission of comprehensive health care, treating the whole person, body and soul. She is certified with FEMM (Fertility Education and Medical Management) as a FEMM teacher and medical provider. She offers Telemedicine visits at Sacred Heart Mercy Health Care Center to select patients in order to be able to provide a more comprehensive view of women’s health and fertility.
Sister Mary Sarah Macht, RSM, NP
Sister Mary Sarah Macht, MSN, APRN is a board-certified, family nurse practitioner. As a sister, Sister Mary Sarah studied for a bachelor’s degree in nursing. After completing her Master’s degree in nursing in 2014, Sister Mary Sarah joined the team at Sacred Heart Mercy Health Care Clinic in Alma, working in administrative and clinical roles from 2014-2018. Sister then worked in the Urgent Care Clinics for St. Francis Health System in Tulsa, OK.
Sister Mary Sarah provides care at the clinic in Internal Medicine, Women’s Health and Fertility Care. Sister Mary Sarah is certified in FEMM Medical Management and as a FEMM Teacher and provides these services at Sacred Heart Clinic. Sister Mary Sarah will be studying for her DNP at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor beginning in the Fall 2024.
FEMM link: https://femmhealth.org/medical_provider/sister-mary-sarah-macht/
Sister Elizabeth Mary Przedwojewski, RSM, RN
Sister Elizabeth Mary is a registered nurse who graduated from Wayne State University, Detroit, MI. She also holds a Masters Degree in Theology from the Catholic University in Lublin, Poland. She presently works as both clinical nurse and nurse care manager and is an integral part of the health care team at Sacred Heart Mercy Health Care Center. Her vocation as a Religious Sister of Mercy has deepened her desire to help those in need both physically and spiritually. Her experience as a nurse in both American and European systems has assisted her as a liason to access various resources for persons who suffer from chronic illnesses.
Sister Mary Christine Cremin, RSM, Ph.D., LMSW
Sister Mary Christine Cremin, RSM, Ph.D., LMSW is a licensed social worker who also has her Doctorate in Medical Anthropology, having received both degrees from Michigan State University. Sister worked as a therapist for Caritas in Germany and for Catholic Charities of East Tennessee (CCETN) before becoming its Director. She now serves as a therapist working with adults, both couples and individuals, and deeply values the opportunity to assist persons to grow through meeting the challenges life presents to them.
Sister Mara Lester, RSM, MD
Sister Mara Lester, RSM, MD is an adult psychiatrist. She completed her medical school training at The George Washington University School of Medicine and Psychiatry Residency at Washington University/Barnes-Jewish Hospital. She greatly appreciates the challenges faced in seeking mental healthcare and desires to promote not only healing but flourishing in life for her patients and those who love and care for them.
Sister Mary Dolora Keating, RSM, LMSW
Sister Mary Dolora Keating, RSM, LMSW, is a clinical social worker who has been practicing as a therapist for the past 25 years. She received her Master of Social Work from Michigan State University as well as License (Master) in Philosophy from the Catholic University of America. She works with adults, couples, and children (age 8 and older) suffering from interpersonal communication problems, depression, anxiety, personality disorders, P.T.S.D., etc. in order to increase awareness and understanding of their challenges so as to see them as opportunities for change.
Sister Teresa Mary Kozlovski, RSM, MD
Sister Teresa Mary Kozlovski, RSM, MD, entered the Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma, Michigan, in 2005, and professed perpetual profession in 2013. She was sent for medical studies and graduated cum laude from Georgetown University School of Medicine in 2012. Recognizing her desire to serve in primary care in concordance with the needs of the community, Sister Teresa Mary did her residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine in Knoxville, completing the program in June of 2019. Sister Teresa Mary was recognized during residency in both 2018 and 2019 with the Rawson Teaching Award and received the Clinic “Star of the Year” award in 2019. Dr. Kozlovski has been serving at Sacred Heart Mercy Health Care Clinic since September of 2019.
Sister Mary Vianney Walsh, RSM, LMSW
Sister Mary Vianney Walsh, RSM, is a registered nurse and a licensed clinical social worker. Sister’s extensive nursing career includes experiences in the following areas: cardiac intensive care, newborn intensive care, bone marrow transplant unit, rural nursing in Minnesota and clinical nursing in Alma, Michigan. Sister Mary Vianney attended Michigan State University in Lansing, Michigan and obtained her LMSW. Sister has more recently worked in a hospice setting in Minnesota, as a director of Catholic charities in Lake Charles Louisiana, and now is serving as a clinical therapist at Sacred Heart Mercy Health Care Center