By Nicole Hamilton
The Cincinnati Enquirer

DELHI TOWNSHIP - Sister Myra James Bradley, former president and chief executive of Good Samaritan Hospital, died Friday at the hospital she once ran.

The influential health-care leader helped guide Good Samaritan into the TriHealth hospital group in the mid-1990s, was widely honored for her commitment to community service and served as a Sister of Charity for 62 years. The Cincinnati native was 80 years old.

"Throughout her life, Sister Myra was the consummate leader, teacher, mentor and servant," said John Prout, president and chief executive of TriHealth. "For 13 years, she steadfastly guided Good Samaritan in further strengthening its clinical excellence and community commitment for which it is renowned. She laid the groundwork for the formation of TriHealth, whose success since 1994 is due in large part to the values that she espoused - excellence, compassion, and community service."

Sister Myra James' career included 36 years at several hospitals. She was appointed president and chief executive of Good Samaritan in 1991 and was pivotal in establishing TriHealth, the partnership between Good Samaritan, Bethesda Oak (now closed) and Bethesda North hospitals. She served as chairwoman of the board for TriHealth from January 1995 to April 1998.

"Sister Myra James was such a charismatic person. She was a wonderful administrator, able to get people to do things without coercion because it was done with great love," said her friend of 40 years, Sister of Charity Ruth Anne Panning. "She was a prayerful, loving woman who was as gracious to a beggar on the street as she was to a top executive."

Sister Myra James was honored by the Cincinnati YMCA as one of its "Career Women of Achievement," was named one of Colorado Springs' Ten Most Influential in 1987, and earned honorary doctorates from both Xavier University and the College of Mount Saint Joseph.

She earned a nursing degree from Good Samaritan Hospital in Dayton; a bachelor's degree in nursing from the College of Mount Saint Joseph; and a master's degree in hospital administration from St. Louis University.

Before becoming a nurse, the Price Hill native and Seton High School graduate worked as a junior high school teacher at St. Matthew School in Norwood and St. Bernard School in Springfield.

Sister Myra James was an administrator at St. Joseph Hospital in Mount Clemens, Mich., from 1960 to 1965, when she moved to Colorado Springs as chief executive and president of Penrose Hospital.

Under her direction, the hospital grew from 350 to 664 beds and became the city's second largest employer.

She also opened the Namaste Alzheimer's Center, Colorado's second largest cancer registry, a burns treatment center, a major rehabilitation center, a cardiac emergency network and an ambulatory care center.

Named chief executive of the Penrose-St. Francis Healthcare System in 1987 - a consolidation of three hospitals - she led that system until she moved back to Cincinnati to head Good Samaritan in 1991.

Sister Myra James returned to Penrose Hospital in Colorado Springs in 1999 and spent 11 months serving as what she liked to call an "ombudsnun." She later moved back to Cincinnati and worked in campus ministry at Xavier University.

Until her death, she volunteered daily at Good Samaritan Hospital, where she ministered to patients and families, in addition to working for the Good Samaritan Foundation.

Sister Myra James was the first recipient of the Sister Grace Marie Hiltz Achievement Award for "exemplary leadership in Catholic health ministry," presented by the Sisters of Charity Health Care System.

In 1996, she received the Loretta Richards Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Mount St. Joseph and earned the American Cancer Society's Sword of Hope Award in 1988.

She also worked with the poor as a volunteer at Mother Teresa's House in Calcutta, India, the Lourdes Shrine in France and in Mexico.

Sister Myra James was preceded in death by a brother, James O. Bradley.

Surviving are a sister-in-law, Eileen Bradley eight nieces, and a nephew.

Visitation will be 3-7 p.m. Wednesday at the Cedars Auditorium at Mount St. Joseph Motherhouse, 5900 Delhi Road., Delhi Township.

Mass of Christian burial will follow at 7 p.m. in the Immaculate Conception Chapel at Mount St. Joseph Motherhouse. Burial will be in the Motherhouse cemetery. Memorials may be made to the Sisters of Charity Retirement Fund, 5900 Delhi Road., Cincinnati, 45051.

E-mail nhamilton@enquirer.com