Born and raised in Perrysburg, Ohio, Sister Janet first learned of Medical Mission Sisters as a 7th grade student at St. Rose School. She earned her Bachelor's Degree in Physical Therapy at Ohio State University, and worked for a year at Mercy Hospital in Toledo, Ohio, before joining our Community.

Sister Janet's first overseas assignment was to Kampala, Uganda, where she worked as a physiotherapist at 2 hospitals. After returning to the U.S. and receiving her Master's Degree in Religious Education from Loyola University, Sister Janet was missioned to Nairobi, Kenya. She did vocation work in District East Africa for several years.

In 1992, Sister Janet began her involvement at Rubaga Hospital, a 260-bed diocesan hospital that is the oldest Catholic hospital in Kampala, Uganda. "I started out doing all kinds of jobs that needed to be done," she explains. "There was such a backlog after the 20 years of economic ruin and war, when everything functioned on a survival basis."

Sister Janet currently serves as the hospital's staff housing officer and maintenance facilitator. She is also in charge of employee housing within the hospital compound, where 180 employees reside.

"Unofficially, but in line with my healing ministry, I have been supportive of staff members in transition, in building up their own departments, in assuming responsibilities," Sister Janet says. Her apartment in Rubaga Hospital is a frequent stopover point for Medical Mission Sisters in Uganda, and for visitors from outside of the country.